Resilience effects for household food expenditure and dietary diversity in rural western China

Abstract

A more resilient livelihood is increasingly recognized as an efficient way to improve vulnerable households’ food security and optimize their dietary decisions. This study quantifies rural household resilience in western China, identifies the three pillars (absorptive capacity, adaptive capacity, and transformative capacity) contribution to resilience, and then establishes the estimated Resilience Capacity Index (RCI) linked with food security and dietary diversity supported by the multiple indicator multiple cause (MIMIC) model. Results show that, despite geographical heterogeneity, the RCI consistently increased from 2015 to 2021. Households with a higher RCI inheriting better capacity to deal with risk and shocks are significantly and positively correlated with increasing food expenditure and diversifying food choices. It can be because resilient households will allocate more money to food expenditure instead of saving for livelihood uncertainty. Thus, policymakers can provide more incentives for rural households to adopt more dynamic and effective risk management strategies. This, in turn, could yield positive spillover effects by preventing human capital loss associated with dietary-related chronic diseases and mortality.