Agriculture and undernutrition through the lens of economics

Agricultural development has historically focused on poverty reduction and food security but is now increasingly asked to help improve nutrition. Despite this strengthened nutritional mandate, agricultural policies and programs have struggled to develop effective, scalable and cost-effective approac...

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Main Authors: Headey, Derek D., Masters, William A.
Format: Artículo preliminar
Language:Inglés
Published: International Food Policy Research Institute 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145544
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author Headey, Derek D.
Masters, William A.
author_browse Headey, Derek D.
Masters, William A.
author_facet Headey, Derek D.
Masters, William A.
author_sort Headey, Derek D.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Agricultural development has historically focused on poverty reduction and food security but is now increasingly asked to help improve nutrition. Despite this strengthened nutritional mandate, agricultural policies and programs have struggled to develop effective, scalable and cost-effective approaches for reducing undernutrition. This study was therefore undertaken to assess more the more strategic issue of how to re-design agricultural development strategies for greater nutritional impact. To do so we review the literature on agriculture-nutrition linkages through an economic lens, focusing on systemic agriculture-nutrition linkages that go beyond the much-explored question of how a farm family’s agricultural activities affect their own household members’ food consumption or nutrition outcomes. To that end we structured this review around three types of linkages between agriculture and nutrition: (i) agricultural income effects (including income stability); (ii) relative food price determination (including the shadow prices involved in consuming one’s own production); and (iii) agricultural livelihood characteristics (encompassing the many neglected dimensions of agricultural activities and rural livelihoods that influence nutrition and health). For each of these literatures we reflect upon relevant economic theory, methodological challenges, and key empirical evidence. We conclude with a brief discussion of the implications of these findings for developing more nutrition-sensitive agricultural development strategies.
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spelling CGSpace1455442025-11-06T05:25:09Z Agriculture and undernutrition through the lens of economics Headey, Derek D. Masters, William A. income economic growth economic development food policies agriculture nutrition livelihoods agricultural development food prices Agricultural development has historically focused on poverty reduction and food security but is now increasingly asked to help improve nutrition. Despite this strengthened nutritional mandate, agricultural policies and programs have struggled to develop effective, scalable and cost-effective approaches for reducing undernutrition. This study was therefore undertaken to assess more the more strategic issue of how to re-design agricultural development strategies for greater nutritional impact. To do so we review the literature on agriculture-nutrition linkages through an economic lens, focusing on systemic agriculture-nutrition linkages that go beyond the much-explored question of how a farm family’s agricultural activities affect their own household members’ food consumption or nutrition outcomes. To that end we structured this review around three types of linkages between agriculture and nutrition: (i) agricultural income effects (including income stability); (ii) relative food price determination (including the shadow prices involved in consuming one’s own production); and (iii) agricultural livelihood characteristics (encompassing the many neglected dimensions of agricultural activities and rural livelihoods that influence nutrition and health). For each of these literatures we reflect upon relevant economic theory, methodological challenges, and key empirical evidence. We conclude with a brief discussion of the implications of these findings for developing more nutrition-sensitive agricultural development strategies. 2019-10-17 2024-06-21T09:04:38Z 2024-06-21T09:04:38Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145544 en Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Headey, Derek D.; and Masters, William A. 2019. Agriculture and undernutrition through the lens of economics. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1876. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145544
spellingShingle income
economic growth
economic development
food policies
agriculture
nutrition
livelihoods
agricultural development
food prices
Headey, Derek D.
Masters, William A.
Agriculture and undernutrition through the lens of economics
title Agriculture and undernutrition through the lens of economics
title_full Agriculture and undernutrition through the lens of economics
title_fullStr Agriculture and undernutrition through the lens of economics
title_full_unstemmed Agriculture and undernutrition through the lens of economics
title_short Agriculture and undernutrition through the lens of economics
title_sort agriculture and undernutrition through the lens of economics
topic income
economic growth
economic development
food policies
agriculture
nutrition
livelihoods
agricultural development
food prices
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145544
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