COVID-19 Impact on Household Food Security in Urban and Peri-Urban Areas of Hyderabad, India

This paper investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food security and on coping-strategies in urban and peri-urban areas of the Hyderabad, India. Household survey data were collected before (October 2018) and during (January 2021) the onset of the pandemic. Results from logistic regression with the standarized Food Insecurity Expecience Scale (FIES) as dependent variable reveal that close to 40% of the households surveyed experienced a deterioration in food security status during the pandemic. In particular, we find that food security is closely related to the sector of employment in which the primary income- earning member of a household is engaged. To mitigate the impact of the pandemic on their food security, our sampled households adopted a variety of consumption-smoothing strategies including availing credit from both formal and informal sources, and liquidating their savings. Compared to households with severe or moderate level of food insecurity, households facing a mild level of food insecurity relied on stored food as a strategy to smoothen consumption in response to the income shock imparted by the pandemic. In addition, the results indicate that urban households, who adopted similar coping strategies as those adopted by peri-urban households, tended to be more food-insecure. Finally, the duration of unemployment experienced during the pandemic significantly influenced the status of household food security. These findings can inform the formulation of immediate and medium-term policy responses, including social protection policies conductive to mitigating the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and ameliorating the governance of urban food security during unexpected events and shocks

Shaping food environments to support sustainable healthy diets in low and middle-income countries

The global ambitions to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture demand a complex transition of the current food environments for enabling sustainable healthy diets. The food environments in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) have been experiencing rapid and dynamic transitions across the globe, necessitating a system-level thinking and systemic approach to understand opportunities for improvement. There is a need for valid, reliable measures of food and nutrition environments for reorienting thinking and data collection toward determinants of food demand, especially the food environment components, which are critical to understand the transforming food systems. Food environment transformations are urgently required to provide consumers with more affordable and nutritious diets capable of meeting social and environmental challenges. In the present perspective, we aim to provide insights on prioritizing research on understanding and designing evidence based inclusive food environments which is crucial for promoting long-term food system innovations that are economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable and, above all, contribute to sustainable healthy diets

Stunting and Underweight among Adolescent Girls of Indigenous Communities in Telangana, India: A Cross-Sectional Study

India’s indigenous groups remain vulnerable to malnutrition, despite economic progress, reflecting the reliance on traditional agriculture and the problems of poverty and inadequate education and sanitation. This mixed-methods study analyzed the incidence, causes and determinants of chronic malnutrition, measured through stunting, thinness and underweight among adolescent indigenous girls in Telangana. Using 2017 data on 695 girls aged 11–18 years from 2542 households, the analysis showed that 13% had normal nutritional status, while 87% were stunted, underweight or thin. Early adolescents (11–14 years) had higher underweight prevalence (24.4%), while late adolescents (15–18 years) showed greater stunting (30%). Regressions identified key influencing factors. Higher education levels of heads of households and the girls themselves alongside household toilet access significantly improved nutritional status and reduced stunting and underweight. The sociocultural emphasis on starchy staple-based diets and early marriage also impacted outcomes. Tackling this crisis requires mainstreaming nutrition across development agendas via comprehensive policies, education, communication and community participation. Further research can guide context-specific solutions. But, evidence-based investments in indigenous education, livelihoods, sanitation and women’s empowerment are the first steps. Nutrition-sensitive development is indispensable for indigenous groups to fully participate in and benefit from India’s progress

Role of Human Capital, Crop Diversification on Women’s Nutritional Status in Sat India Using Dynasty Panel Data

Close linkages between agriculture, nutrition and health have been established in the literature, especially recognizing the gender roles in achieving improved nutrition and health. This paper contributes important insights regarding the nutritional status of adult women engaged in agriculture and examines the interaction of human capital (especially education), agricultural diversification, consumption expenditure, and lifestyle choices on their nutritional status. The Body Mass Index (BMI) is used as a proxy for assessing the nutritional status of women. Panel data from the Village Dynamics Studies in South Asia (VDSA) covering households in six villages of semiarid tropics (SAT) of India over the last decade (2005 to 2014) is harnessed to construct a dynasty household matrix and systematize the panel data analysis. Both descriptive and econometric analyses are carried out to examine interaction between nutritional status and factors like education, agricultural diversification, lifestyle, household expenditure, per-capita income of the households. Complementary panel logistic regression analysis using the VDSA household dynasty data suggests that education (or investments in human capital) and per capita income among women have significant positive impacts on lowering malnutrition. The results of model-1 revealed that married women and women belonging to ages more than 34 years are likely to be less underweight compared to unmarried and young women. Similar observation were drawn with women members with higher per-capita income. Likewise, the model-2 results show that women between the ages 25 and above and with higher per capita income are also likely to be overweight. Households with low and medium standard of living are likely to have less overweight women compared to households with high standard of living. The paper concludes that agricultural diversification and education of women do affect women nutritional status. Ultimately, it alerts agricultural planners, researchers and development investors to package crop diversification and lifestyle interventions with targeted nutrition goals

Role of Human Capital, Crop Diversification on Women’s Nutritional Status in Sat India Using Dynasty Panel Data

Close linkages between agriculture, nutrition and health have been established in the literature, especially recognizing the gender roles in achieving improved nutrition and health. This paper contributes important insights regarding the nutritional status of adult women engaged in agriculture and examines the interaction of human capital (especially education), agricultural diversification, consumption expenditure, and lifestyle choices on their nutritional status. The Body Mass Index (BMI) is used as a proxy for assessing the nutritional status of women. Panel data from the Village Dynamics Studies in South Asia (VDSA) covering households in six villages of semiarid tropics (SAT) of India over the last decade (2005 to 2014) is harnessed to construct a dynasty household matrix and systematize the panel data analysis. Both descriptive and econometric analyses are carried out to examine interaction between nutritional status and factors like education, agricultural diversification, lifestyle, household expenditure, per-capita income of the households. Complementary panel logistic regression analysis using the VDSA household dynasty data suggests that education (or investments in human capital) and per capita income among women have significant positive impacts on lowering malnutrition. The results of model-1 revealed that married women and women belonging to ages more than 34 years are likely to be less underweight compared to unmarried and young women. Similar observation were drawn with women members with higher per-capita income. Likewise, the model-2 results show that women between the ages 25 and above and with higher per capita income are also likely to be overweight. Households with low and medium standard of living are likely to have less overweight women compared to households with high standard of living. The paper concludes that agricultural diversification and education of women do affect women nutritional status. Ultimately, it alerts agricultural planners, researchers and development investors to package crop diversification and lifestyle interventions with targeted nutrition goals