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G E N D E R A N D I N T R A H O U S E H O L DA S P E C T S O F F O O D P O L I C Y

IFPRI

RESEARCHPROJECTMISSION

Intrahouseholdresource allocationcan predict theoutcomes andconsequences of policies targeted athouseholds orindividuals. Withthis knowledge andunderstanding, theresearch team aimsto generateinformation that willassist in thedevelopment of policies, programsand projects thattake intrahouseholdallocation processesinto account.

PROJECT BRIEF No 2 APRIL 2000

In rural areas of Bangladesh, poverty is pervasive andassociated with high rates of malnutrition especiallyamong preschool children and women. Apart from lowlevels of energy intakes, it is increasingly recognizedthat rice-dominated diets such as those consumed bymost poor in the countryside may not supply allmicronutrients required for a healthy life andproductive activities. Children and women areparticularly vulnerable to these micronutrientdeficiencies as they face relatively higher requirementsfor growth and reproduction.

Poor dietary quality is a primary cause of micronutrient deficiencies. Low intake of vegetables,fruits, pulses, fish, and animal products arecompounded by frequent attacks of diarrhea and otherinfectious diseases in a spiral of increasingdeficiencies. Nonstaple foods, particularly animalproducts, are rich sources of bioavailable minerals andvitamins, but too expensive for the poor to buy insufficient quantities.

There is considerable interest in "food-based"strategies to alleviate micronutrient malnutrition,interventions that can complement supplementationand fortification programs and seek directly to improvedietary quality. Promotion of polyculture fish andvegetable production, two foods relatively rich inmicronutrients, holds potential for improvingmicronutrient status in Bangladesh (i) by increasingthe supply of micronutrients to the general populationand so lowering prices or maintaining constant pricesin the face of rising demand due to population and

income growth and (ii) by directly improvinghousehold incomes and intakes of fish and vegetablesof producing households.

The present study has examined three NGOprograms through which production of polyculture fishand commercial vegetables have been promotedthrough provision of NGO credit and training

programs directed at women: (1) commercial vegetableproduction in Saturia; (2) polyculture fish productionin household-owned ponds in Mymensingh; and(3) polyculture fish production in group-managedponds in Jessore.

Although apparently highly profitable as comparedwith rice, the two technologies studied contributerather modestly to overall household incomes. Becauseof the high profitability of the polyculture fish andcommercial vegetable production on a per acre basis,the potential exists for much higher impacts onhousehold income, if land devoted to production andother inputs were to be increased. A priority forresearch would be to understand what are theconstraints to more intensive adoption by adoptinghouseholds.

Rice consumption does not vary significantly byincome group, suggesting that consumers at all incomelevels give high priority to satiating hunger throughrice consumption first. In contrast, animal and fishconsumption rises rapidly with income on a percentagebasis, roughly doubling between low and high incometerciles for the surveyed households. Nonstaple plantfood consumption rises by a slower rate with income.There is roughly a 50 percent increase in intakes of

nonstaple plant foods between low and high incometerciles. Although animal and fish consumptionaccounts, on average, for only 3 percent of total energyintake, because of their high cost it is striking thatanimal and fish consumption accounts for 20-25percent of food budgets on average.

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE2033 K STREET, NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20006-1002 USA

Web: www.ifpri.org Phone: 1-202-862-5600 Fax: 1-202-467-4439 Email: ifpri@cgiar.org

Commercial Vegetable and Polyculture Fish Production in Bangladesh:Their Impacts on Income, Food Consumption, and Nutrition

Food-Based Strategies to Reduce/ Eliminate Micronutrient Malnutrition

Effects of Adoption on HouseholdIncome

Income, Food Prices, and FoodExpenditures

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ABOUT IFPRI

IFPRIs mission isto identify andanalyze strategiesfor meeting foodneeds of thedeveloping world,with particularemphasis on low-income countriesand the poor.

IFPRI is a memberof the ConsultativeGroup onInternationalAgriculturalResearch (CGIAR).

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For moreinformation,

contactBonnie McClaffertyCommunicationsSpecialistB.McClafferty@

CGIAR.ORG

Preschoolers appear to be favored in intra-household distribution of food, particularly preschoolboys who receive a disproportionate share of animaland fish products, which are the most expensivesources of energy and account for a high percentage of foods purchased at the margin as income increases. Itis adult women who tend to receive disproportionatelylower shares of preferred foods. Although the energyintakes of adult women are, of course, substantiallygreater than those of preschool children, consumptionof animal and fish products is about equal betweenadult women and preschool boys.

The adoption of the polyculture technology does leadto greater consumption of large fish, but not of fishconsumption in total. There is apparently a one-for-onesubstitution of small fish in non-adopting, fishpond-owning households. Although the magnitude of thissubstitution is small, nevertheless it should be notedthat small fish are more nutritious gram-for-gram thanlarge fish, so that the impact on dietary quality isnegative. If scientifically feasible, there would seem tobe a large opportunity for profitable production of small fish in privately-owned fishponds if these smallfish could be harvested during February throughAugust when small fish prices are seasonally high.

Similar to the results for polyculture fishproduction, producers of AVRDC-target vegetables donot consume disproportionately high amounts either of

AVRDC-target vegetables or vegetables in total. Aplausible explanation is that demand for vegetablesdoes not increase with income, that is, there is nolatent, unsatisfied demand to be met. Production andmarketing efforts need to concentrate (i) primarily onextending growing seasons in order to dampenseasonal price fluctuations and (ii) perhaps secondarilyon improving marketing channels so that vegetablesmay move cheaply and freely about the country inorder to take advantage of differential regionalgrowing seasons.

There is little reason to believe that adoption of the twotechnologies under study has improved themicronutrient status of members of adoptinghouseholds through better dietary quality. There wasno finding of disproportionately high own-consumption of fish and vegetables by adoptinghouseholds. Impacts on overall household income,although positive, are not strong.

It is consumers in general, both non-adoptingand adopting households, who benefit nutritionally

from research, extension, and credit programs, suchas those studied in this report, to increase the marketsupply of vegetables and fish. All other things beingequal, increased market supply will lower prices forthese foods. Demand estimates demonstrate thatconsumers are price-responsive. Consumption of these foods will increase if prices decline.Conversely, if policies are not undertaken toincrease supply, prices of nonstaple foods will almost

certainly continue to increase in the face of populationgrowth and nutritional status will be furthercompromised.

Rural incomes are quite diversified. No one single newtechnology will raise the incomes of a high proportionof low-income households by several multiples in justa few years. A range of new technologies needs to becontinually improved and refined through research.Farming households must be taught to use the newtechnologies and to learn to adapt them to theirspecific conditions.

Commercial vegetable and polyculture fishproduction are promising, viable components of anoverall agricultural development strategy, whichperhaps might now best rely on nonstaple foodproducts as key sources of productivity growth.Although not analyzed in depth, the livestock sectoremerged as an important source of income to ruralhouseholds as well as a key source of micronutrient-status-improving food products. For various types of livestock, it is useful to compare profitability, laboruse, and constraints to increased production with rice,vegetable, and polyculture fish production.

Because poor nutrition results in high losses toproductivity and individual welfare, and can only beimproved gradually through income increasesgenerated by agricultural development, specificinterventions to improve micronutrient status in theshort-to-medium term can provide a high return toinvestment. With respect to improving iron status, thisreport finds no evidence that diet-based interventionscould be successful. The cost of animal and fishproducts is simply too high with respect to consumerpurchasing power.

Diet-based interventions, however, may well be

possible for improving vitamin A status in thatvegetable sources of beta-carotene are well within thepurchasing power of poor consumers. The problemwould appear to be one of consumer motivationinforming and convincing consumers of the benefits of pro-vitamin A consumption and providing theknowledge of which vegetables are rich sources.Education is key because there does not appear to be astrong, latent demand for vegetables, as there is foranimal and fish products, as income increases. n

Intrahousehold Food Distribution

Effects of Adoption on Own-Consumption

Effects of Technology Adoption onNutritional Outcomes

Improvements in Household Incomeand Implications for Agriculture Policy