Change in cost and affordability of a typical and nutritionally adequate diet among socio-economic groups in rural Nepal after the 2008 food price crisis

Nasima Akhter,Anthony Costello,David Osrin,Bhim Shrestha,Andrew Seal,Naomi Saville,Dharma S Manandhar

doi:10.1007/s12571-018-0799-y

Nasima Akhter, Anthony Costello + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-018-0799-y

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Abstract

Diet quality is an important determinant of nutrition and food security and access can be constrained by changes in food prices and affordability. Poverty, malnutrition, and food insecurity are high in Nepal and may have been aggravated by the 2008 food price crisis. To assess the potential impact of the food price crisis on the affordability of a nutritionally adequate diet in the rural plains of Nepal, data on consumption patterns and local food prices were used to construct typical food baskets, consumed by four different wealth groups in Dhanusha district in 2005 and 2008. A modelled diet designed to meet household requirements for energy and essential nutrients at minimum cost, was also constructed using the ‘Cost of Diet’ linear programming tool, developed by Save the Children. Between 2005 and 2008, the cost of the four typical food baskets increased by 19% – 26% and the cost of the nutritionally adequate modelled diet increased by 28%. Typical food baskets of all wealth groups were low in macro and micronutrients. Income data for the four wealth groups in 2005 and 2008 were used to assess diet affordability. The nutritionally adequate diet was not affordable for poorer households in both 2005 and 2008. Due to an increase in household income levels, the affordability scenario did not deteriorate further in 2008. Poverty constrained access to nutritionally adequate diets for rural households in Dhanusha, even before the 2008 food price crisis. Despite increased income in 2008, households remain financially unable to meet their nutritional requirements.

Highlights

Progress has been made in reducing hunger, about 795 million people are still undernourished globally, of whom about 780 million live in developing countries and are unable to access enough food for an active and healthy life (Food and Agriculture Organisation 2015)
Members of a wealthier household would be heavier than members of a poorer household, the physical activity levels (PAL) would be lower for wealthier than for poorer households and the energy needs were likely to be approximately equal across wealth groups
We hypothesised that the food price crisis would have a higher negative nutritional impact on poorer wealth groups, we found that the Typical Food Baskets (TFB) for all wealth groups did not meet 100% of nutrient requirements

Summary

Introduction

Progress has been made in reducing hunger, about 795 million people are still undernourished globally, of whom about 780 million live in developing countries and are unable to access enough food for an active and healthy life (Food and Agriculture Organisation 2015). Diet quality is an important determinant of the food and nutrition security of a population and is influenced by food availability, access, utilisation and affordability at both country and household level. Since food cost is the most important determinant of food purchasing decisions (Lo et al 2009), a food price rise can exacerbate food insecurity and increase the risk of malnutrition (Martin-Prevel et al 2012). Food prices and income determine purchasing power and the affordability of healthier foods (Drewnowski and Darmon 2005; Darmon and Drewnowski 2008) and may suggest how resilient or vulnerable households can be in responding to a food price crisis. The relationship between food price and income is not always predictable, as the larger food environment, i.e. availability, convenience, and desirability of foods in a certain location, can play important roles (Herforth and Ahmed 2015). It is important to understand and examine the impact of food prices in a given context

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