Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
the age and sex of the children and their compliance with the program requirements.
The value of the transfer received equaled about 20% of total household consump-
tion prior to the program. In an evaluation of the impact of PROGRESA on food
consumption, Hoddinott and Skoufias (2004) concluded that the program induced a
consumption of 6.4% more calories in communities where the program was deliv-
ered compared to similar but nonparticipating communities. Furthermore, they
demonstrate that the program led to increases in the quality of the diet consumed,
with greater portions of animal products and vegetables consumed in the participat-
ing communities. Additional evaluative research (Behrman and Hoddinott, 2005)
shows the nutritional supplementation program as leading to a lower probability of
child stunting and an increase of mean annual growth for participating children of
approximately 15% for children 12 to 36 months. Thus, the CCT program leads to
significant improvements in nutritional outcomes and food consumption.
While direct provision of food and cash (including food-for-work programs) work
to ensure food security and improve nutrition in the short term, in the longer term
countries can improve access to food by strengthening incomes, particularly for
those people living on less than $1 or $2 per day. Broad-based economic growth,
building on investments in human capital (education and primary health and pub-
lic health services), public infrastructure (road, telecommunications networks, clean
water, and adequate sanitation), as well as improved institutions and governance
(legal frameworks, market access, equal rights under the law, equity in access to
public goods), will serve to reduce food insecurity in the long run. Food programs
also play a critical role in the long-run development strategies of countries, particu-
larly in the area of human capital formation.
It has long been realized that child health and development depends critically on
the education and skills of the mother (Glewwe, 1999). Yet in many countries, girls
tend to attend fewer years of school than boys. For example, World Bank statistics
show that in India in 2000, for females 15 years and older, average schooling was
4 years, whereas for males in the same age category it was 6 years (World Bank,
2008). To address this issue, as well as to provide a food supplement to children and
to indirectly support low-income families through an in-kind transfer, many coun-
tries have turned to school lunch programs. School lunch programs increase school
attendance for girls and thereby will help to promote human capital formation in the
future (Vermeersch and Kremer, 2004). Afridi (2006) examined the Mid-Day Meal
program (nationally mandated school meals) in India for its nutritional impact on
the child program participants and found the program effectively increased the chil-
dren's protein intake to 100% of daily requirements and reduced the overall caloric
deficiency by roughly 30%. The program cost about 3 cents per child per day, so
that small investments of funds can generate significant food security and nutrition
benefits through a school lunch program.
To reduce childhood malnutrition, nutrition interventions targeted at pregnant
women and young children have proven effective (Bhutta et al., 2008). Effective
interventions include promotion of breastfeeding, supplementary feeding for the food
insecure, reduction of the impact of malaria during pregnancy, therapeutic feeding
for the acutely malnourished, and micronutrient interventions. These nutrition strate-
