Abstract
Background: Despite significant growth and change in India over the past two decades, some public health indicators have failed to keep pace. One such indicator is food insecurity. India is home to the largest number of people experiencing hunger and food insecurity. Food security is described as “a situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”. While there has been considerable research investigating the role of crop yields, policy interventions, and food production in alleviating food insecurity in India, there is insufficient research investigating the social and cultural influences of food insecurity, including the role of women. The primary aim of this research is to investigate the experience of food insecurity among women in India. The objectives of this research are (1) to determine the role of women in food production and its contribution to household food security; (2) to examine the gender roles within households and the decision-making processes that influence food security, and (3) to investigate household nutritional status and food insecurity experience. Methods: Participants will include women who live in a village in Punjab, India. Interviews with 100 households, drawn from a convenience sample will be conducted. Interviews will be conducted in Punjabi with simultaneous English translation, and will include: food related experiences, anthropometric measurements (weight, height, waist, and hip) and dietary assessment (24-h diet recall, two non-consecutive days), dwelling facilities, agriculture related information, including household agriculture activities undertaken, food security status (via the United States Department of Agriculture Household Food Security Scale Measurement), and demographic information. Discussion: This study aims to investigate a range of determinants of food insecurity among a rural population. It will allow for the identification of some of the components of household food insecurity among women in India and will go part of the way to understanding how and why India continues to experience food and nutritional insecurity despite growth and progress in a range of other indicators.
Highlights
Despite significant growth and change in India over the past two decades, some public health indicators have failed to keep pace
Research that has investigated the experience of food insecurity at the household level has mostly occurred through data collected via the National Sample Survey, consumer expenditure data, and national grain and rice production estimates [17,18]. This focus on availability, the focus on purchasing power, is problematic as it emphasises the role of the distribution of government aid as a means to alleviate food insecurity, ignoring the other pillars of food insecurity. This focus on re-distribution removes the role of any local customs, individual strategies, and social factors that contribute to food insecurity, including poverty, resulting from low and irregular incomes [19], inadequate housing and basic infrastructure [20], overcrowding and a lack of basic sanitary services resulting in the promotion of infectious diseases [21], unequal distribution of wealth and access and entitlement to land, and limited access to services [22]
This has meant that much of the formal response to chronic and acute hunger in India to date has been through activities directed at the availability pillar of food security; through food supply activities, including the implementation of the National Food Security Act of 2013 [23] and the Public Distribution System [24]
Summary
Over the last two decades, India has undergone significant economic growth and change, including a substantial increase in gross domestic product and per capita income. This focus on re-distribution removes the role of any local customs, individual strategies, and social factors that contribute to food insecurity, including poverty, resulting from low and irregular incomes [19], inadequate housing and basic infrastructure [20], overcrowding and a lack of basic sanitary services resulting in the promotion of infectious diseases [21], unequal distribution of wealth and access and entitlement to land, and limited access to services [22] This has meant that much of the formal response to chronic and acute hunger in India to date has been through activities directed at the availability pillar of food security; through food supply activities, including the implementation of the National Food Security Act of 2013 [23] and the Public Distribution System [24]. The objectives of this research are (1) to determine the role of women in food production and its contribution to household food security, (2) to examine the gender roles within households and the decision-making processes that influence food security, and (3) to investigate household nutritional status and food insecurity experience
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