Andaleeb Rahman - FAN 2020

I co-authored this report at the Tata-Cornell Institute (TCI). This is the first in a series of such reports which addresses various issues around food, agriculture, and nutrition (FAN). FAN 2020 focuses on SDG 2: Moving to Zero Hunger and how agriculture could be leveraged for it.

The uniqueness of this report comes from the utlization of a rich spatial and temporal data on rural India. An illustration of which is shown below and details around the database here. Based upon our analysis, we also provide multiple policy measures to achieve the objective of no hunger. Please explore the report.

Comments, suggestions, and potential for collaborations are most welcome.

Watch the e-launch of the report here

KEY FINDINGS

India’s progress on undernutrition has been slow compared to economic progress. India has made significant progress in reducing poverty, but as of 2016-18, 14.5 percent of the population—194 million people—were still undernourished.
Getting the nutrition metric right is essential to getting the policy right. Undernourishment, which is based on calorie adequacy, does not account for the quality of diets. People consuming enough calories may still suffer from symptoms of malnutrition if their food is deficient in micronutrients. Anthropometric measures give a more accurate picture.
Access to nutritious food is lagging, despite increasing demand. Expenditures on fruits and vegetables, milk products, meat, eggs, and fish have increased, demonstrating increased demand for nutritious foods. However, because prices for these foods are high and frequently fluctuate, households are instead eating more processed foods, beverages, oils, and fats. Policies should encourage increased production of nutritious foods in order to make them more affordable.
Regional disparities in nutritional outcomes can be attributed to varying trajectories of subnational structural transformation. Symptoms of malnutrition vary widely between and within states and are linked to structural shifts in states’ economies from agriculture to industry and service sectors. In agriculture-led growth states and urbanizing states, the rate of stunted, wasted, and underweight children is lower, compared to lagging states, but the rates of obesity and associated non-communicable diseases are higher.
Investing in agriculture in the lagging states is fundamental to reducing malnutrition. Investing in agriculture can kickstart the process of structural transformation in lagging states. As states move through the process, the share of agriculture in GDP and the share of the population involved in agriculture decreases, allowing agricultural incomes to increase. In states where the share of the population working in agriculture does not decrease fast enough, continued investment is needed.
Investment in agriculture leads to better nutrition at the household level via higher incomes, access to diverse foods, more equitable intrahousehold food allocation, and improved health environments. Increased agricultural productivity leads to higher incomes, which is known to improve nutrition. Likewise, it increases access to diverse foods through both rising incomes and increased access. Directing agricultural investments toward self-help groups increases women’s empowerment, which improves household food allocation. Investments in food safety, sanitation, and hygiene help to ensure the ability to absorb nutrients.
In regions where agriculture is underdeveloped and poverty is high, diets are mainly staple-based, and nutrition outcomes are poor. Due to unfavorable climate, poor infrastructure, and a lack of economic incentives, agricultural development has lagged behind in eastern India. Diets in the region are composed mostly of staple grains, resulting in a prevalence of stunting.
In more developed regions, diets and nutrition outcomes have improved, but overnutrition is emerging as an important concern. Cereals are less prominent in diets in agriculture-led growth and urbanizing states. However, consumption of fruits and vegetables continues to be low, and people eat more processed foods, contributing to a rise in obesity and noncommunicable diseases.
Achieving SDG2 requires policy focus to move toward more nutritious and micronutrient-rich foods, such as pulses, coarse cereals, vegetables, fruits, and animal products. While demand for more nutritious foods increases, government policies continue to focus on staple grains, contributing to rising nonstaple prices. Meeting the rising demand for micronutrient-rich foods can move the country closer to nutrition security while providing economic opportunities for smallholder farmers. Support for these farmers—in the form of market infrastructure, supply chain development, and improved institutional arrangements—is crucial for agricultural diversification.
Efforts to double incomes and productivity need to be tailored to various different cropping systems in the country. India has a vast array of cropping systems, each of which requires different interventions to increase productivity. For example, in systems where land lays fallow for part of the year, introducing a new crop can increase production. Future research on improving productivity and incomes should focus on further tailoring strategies to different cropping systems.