SAM — a baby with many faces

In the last issue of Food Policy, two articles appeared on the subject of the Mexican Food System, or the Sistema Alimenticio Mexicano (SAM). The first article by Frank Meissner¹ reviewed the background to SAM, the proposed strategies, intended targets, its funding and put forward a strong case for considering SAM as a constructive policy for alleviating Mexico's food and nutrition problems. However, Michael Redclift commented in his article that:² ‘There are three principal points to be made of Dr Meissner's article: its interpretation of Mexico's recent agrarian development is questionable; it does not distinguish between the analysis provided in the SAM documents and the policy measures to which they give rise; and, it glosses over serious problems of implementation, giving too little weight to the participatory element without which SAM is doomed to failure’. This rejoinder is Frank Meissner's response to Michael Redclift's comments.     

The new need: Nutrition-oriented food policies

Inadequate nutrition results in human and economic waste. In developing societies, substantial deaths are thought to be malnutrition-related, and large proportions of the populations live with the negative effeets that inadequate diet and related illness have on learning, work capacity, behaviour and well-being. ' The nutritional state of the populace both influences and reflects the level and pace of national development.²     

What will we eat tomorrow? UK food industry and its market

An OECD report on Food Marketing and Economics stated in 1970 that ‘the basic direction of development … is towards a food industry dominated by a limited number of large, efficient, dynamic, market oriented companies’. This is certainly so. In the UK from one to three companies already account for from 60 to 96% of the sales of a wide range of processed foods (biscuits, breakfast cereals, bread, frozen fish, frozen vegetables, ice cream, margarine, potato crisps, sugar, tea, tinned fruit and tinned soups). Out of £362 million spent on advertising in 1973, £88 million was spent on food, more than on any other product category. Undoubtedly the food industry is influencing to an increasing extent what people eat, and their nutrition. An extensive report on the status of the UK food industry and many of its sectors, British Food Profile¹, was released in 1978. The report is discussed below.     

Towards regional food security in southern Africa: a (new) policy framework for the agricultural sector

In the southern African Region (SAR) large populations, mainly concentrated in rural areas, face food insecurity and poverty. Food insecurity is intensified by adverse weather conditions and droughts which impact negatively on farm level food production throughout the region. Agriculture constitutes an important economic sector in the majority of countries in the region. This is measured as share of agricultural value added to the GDP and as agriculture's share in employment. Based on these facts alone, it must be obvious that sustained agricultural performance will play a significant role in the improvement of food security and livelihoods in the region. However, food security is not only attained in rural areas and by the consumption of home produced food stuffs. Urbanisation is expected to increase dramatically over the next few decades and feeding the urban masses, at affordable prices, must be considered to be a high future priority for governments in the region. Food security must not be viewed as an agricultural issue per se. The drive to food self sufficiency through domestic agriculture production in many countries in the region did not enable these countries to feed their own population. Food security should rather be defined as the acquirement of sufficient and nutritious quantities of food (Sen, 1981, Poverty and Famines: An essay on Entitlement and Deprivation). An approach, whereby attention is given to the macro level availability of food, access to income streams as well as improved production capacity to acquire food at a household level and the utilisation of nutritious food, should therefore be guiding food security policies (SADC: FSTAU, 1997, A Strategic Framework for Food Security in the Region). This broader view emphasises household level poverty reduction, economic development and growth as important components of a food security strategy (World Food Summit, Rome, 1996). An important issue which therefore needs to be explored is whether agriculture does have the potential to contribute to economic processes, which will support broad based development and food security. This paper is intended to argue the importance of agricultural development for food security in the region and to develop a diverse policy framework to strengthen this new, more comprehensive role of agriculture in the region.     

Food aid for supplementary feeding programmes : An analysis

Supplementary feeding projects to selected population groups are one outlet for the food aid which is sent to developing nations. The author discusses the costs and benefits, both nutritional and non-nutritional, of supplementary feeding projects, with two questions in mind. He asks: are supplementary feeding programmes an effective nutrition intervention; and should such programmes be supported by food aid or would their purpose be better achieved with local food?     

Toward a national food policy for the USA

This special report discusses the need for a national food policy in the USA. Based on a speech¹ made by Carol Tucker Foreman, Assistant Secretary, Food and Consumer Services, of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), it is part of an ongoing debate in that country. Assistant Secretary Foreman made the speech at the Food and Agricultural Outlook Conference sponsored by the USDA in Washington DC, 14–17 November 1977. The views presented here are not an official US government statement, but rather one part of an important policy making process. FOOD POLICY welcomes submission of other opinions on the question of a food policy for the USA, or for any other nation.     

Do poverty and poor health and nutrition increase the risk of armed conflict onset?

We analyze the effects of improving the economic, food security and health status on the risk of armed cotntectflict onset, focusing on the factors related to the millennium development goals. We employ the discrete-time hazard model that allows us to examine the time-varying effects of socioeconomic factors controlling for the reverse effect of conflict. Our results show that income poverty and poor health and nutritional status are more significantly associated with armed conflict onset than GDP per capita, annual GDP growth, and the ratio of primary commodity exports over GDP. In particular, poor health and nutritional status seems to play a key role in inducing armed conflicts in poor countries. These results indicate that, when a majority of the poor and the malnourished resides in rural areas and depends on agriculture directly or indirectly, investments in public goods for agriculture and rural areas can be effective tools to achieve the multiple goals of reduced poverty, food security and armed conflict, including riots in early 2008 triggered by high food prices. Food policy can be an effective element of efforts to maintain stability.     

Food aid: pitfalls and potential

This article poses the question of whether it is possible to use food aid to meet short-run needs while supporting and not undermining the achievement of long-term goals of self-reliance at the household and national levels. Often either some degree of self-reliance is sacrificed or people will suffer malnutrition. Food aid may be used to generate employment for low income families (food-for-work schemes), to reduce food prices during shortages by increasing the supply, and it can be delivered to target groups as a direct entitlement. What happens to food after delivery is important: often it goes to family members not targeted. Other factors (e.g. measles) affect nutritional status. Food aid must often continue for long periods to avoid nutritional regression. The stage in distribution at which food is used is important; e.g. a measles epidemic might affect the consumption but not the supply of food, or poor targeting might benefit families who do not need it. Complementary actions may improve conditions; for example, if food is sold, increasing income improves the situation. A problem with provision of food is depression of local prices, reducing incentives to produce food locally. Most food aid does not increase demand, and in fact if the effect is to change tastes away from local products demand may be reduced. The effect on demand depends on the type of aid scheme, the timing and duration, and the locality of the project. Most objectives are better achieved by the use of cash aid, which promotes rather than weakens local food producers' incentives, reduces transport and storage, redistributes food, does not affect taste, and adds income by contributing to local decentralized transport. Food aid is a good temporary intervention, but cash aid should be used in the long term.     

European dietary patterns and their associated land use: Variation between and within countries

This paper determines the cropland use associated with the dietary patterns of 16 European countries and investigates sources of variation in land use between and within these countries. The analysis combines food availability data at the household level with country-specific land use data for food items. The household food availability data is obtained from a standardized and post-harmonized databank, developed in the Data Food Networking Project (DAFNE). The results show large differences between the land use of the 16 European countries, ranging from ±1500 m² (Ireland) to ±3000 m² (Malta) to supply an average person’s food demand. Major reasons for this divergence include disparities in total caloric food availability and in national yields. The composition of the diet is only a minor source of variation. Using food consumption data at the household level makes it also possible to look for sources of variation within countries. This paper investigates sources of variation within countries by examining the influence of education of the household head on land use associated with food consumption. The analysis shows that diets of people with only elementary education need on average 20% more land than diets of people with a higher education (2302 m² and 1948 m², respectively). The basis of this difference is the higher caloric availability for people with only an elementary education; the influence of differences in the composition of the diet is negligible. Variation in land use between countries is thus caused by the different agricultural productivities and caloric availabilities, and the major source of variation within countries is the caloric availability. The composition of the diet is only a minor source of variation, both between and within countries. The results implicate that highly educated people have a lower demand for land.     

Improving the nutritional impact of extension services in rural Africa

Experience in nutrition interventions in Africa points to several design characteristics of field programs which could improve their effectiveness. Regular government extension services have the potential to reach large numbers of people, yet staff will require additional training to respond to the changing demands of field work. A new approach to obercome 2 implementation difficulties found in previous interventions has recently been formulated. The 1st difficulty addressed is that of reaching large enough numbers of people to affect the national prevalence of nutritional and other health problems. The 2nd is to present information that is directly relevant to the situation of people in different localities. The new approach to training rural extension workers has been developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The approach provides staff with information and managerial skills that are common to all extension work. The practical examples used to introduce these techniques illustrate nutritional problems that fieldworkers face and give a measure of confidence in finding solutions. The problems discussed include the adequacy of the techical information given during basic training; the need to understand the administrative aspects of a program or service, and the need to develop effective communication skills. It is intended that the fieldworker will be able to assess the situation in a locality and decide on appropriate action related to the nutritional problems identified. Subsequent action will always conform to the ministry's technical madate. The process of developing an understanding of the nutritional realities of a locality introduces a number of managerial techniques. These techniques for efficient management of field programs are explained and demonstrated during training, using examples that are nutritionally appropriate. In showing the step-by-step application of these techniques to nutritional activities, fieldworkers become familiar with nutritional terms. They also become confident in dealing with the nutritional implications of their work.     

Indigenous Shawi communities and national food security support: Right direction,but not enough

Food insecurity is a major challenge facing Peru’s Indigenous Shawi communities, who receive food support through national level programs. There is limited research, however, on how national food and social programming support is perceived, received and used among Indigenous communities. We address this research gap by characterizing the preferred diet and coping mechanisms among Shawi Indigenous households, and investigating community perspectives on the national food program and national social supports. We used a mixed methods approach, including a quantitative survey among eleven Shawi communities in the Peruvian Amazon (n = 177 households), and semi-structured interviews with key informants (n = 24). We found that national food programs in Peru rarely provide foods that are desired and preferred among the Shawi, particularly familiar and locally-sourced protein sources such as bushmeat and fish. Food and social programming requirements do not integrate consideration of the remoteness of many vulnerable households, and are considered culturally or linguistically inaccessible to many families. In some cases, foods supplied by national programs are not consumed as they are perceived as unfamiliar. Key opportunities to improve food and social programing include: monitoring and revising eligibility requirements for remote and highly vulnerable households; increasing provision of locally-preferred protein food and familiar food types; avoiding use of written Spanish as a sole source of information to support programming; extending food provision outside of school months; developing contingency plans during education sector strikes; considering hiring of staff with working knowledge of local languages for community distributions; using visual or oral communication rather than written communication to increase accessibility of programs; increasing knowledge on the use and nutritional value of external food; and considering exemptions to school and health eligibility requirements during the rainy season and during sector strikes. Nationally-developed programming that does not consider Indigenous and cultural contexts risks inefficiency, limited improvement of health outcomes, and the potential to increase inequities in Indigenous health.     

Not enough money or not enough time to satisfy the Thrifty Food Plan? A cost difference approach for estimating a money–time threshold

Food production at home requires money and time. Food assistance programs focus exclusively on the money cost, while ignoring the time cost. This one-dimensional focus could undermine the effectiveness of food assistance programs. In the spirit of Vickery (1977), this paper uses a cost difference approach to develop a money–time threshold, and several related metrics, to determine whether money or time is the most limiting resource in reaching the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) target. In our empirical analysis we find that when time is ignored, single headed households spend on average 35% more than required to meet the TFP target. However, when time is included, these households spend on average 40% less than required to meet the TFP target. In addition, we find that when time is ignored, 62% of single headed households on average spend enough money to reach the TFP target, but when time is included, only 13% of single headed households spend enough on average to reach the TFP target. Our empirical results suggest that time is more constraining than money in reaching the TFP target. These results imply that metrics solely focusing on money could severely underestimate the gap between actual expenditures and those required to reach the TFP target.     

The US food stamp programme

Food stamps are a policy topic of considerable current interest in the USA. In addition, the US programme offers other countries a working example of this particular approach to food assistance and nutrition improvement. This article reviews the history, performance, fundamentals, current reform measures, and future alternatives of the programme. Although food stamps have not solved the nutrition problem in the USA, they have served reasonably well as a food assistance and income supplement programme. If comprehensive welfare reform is enacted in the USA, a food stamp programme designed to maximize its nutritional impact is advocated.     

Embargoes and corporate goals

A recent article in Food Policy, ‘US-Soviet grain embargoes: regulating the MNCs’, by Erik Lindell,¹ broached the problem of controlling and regulating multinational corporations (MNCs) during recent US-Soviet grain embargoes. While agreeing with Lindell's analysis as far as it goes, Peter Okaiyeto provides a conceptual framework to improve our understanding of why MNCs behave as they do, demonstrating that MNCs will undermine those global interests of their national governments that run counter to their own interests.     

The rising disparity in the price of healthful foods: 2004–2008

Nutrient-dense foods that are associated with better health outcomes tend to cost more per kilocalorie (kcal) than do refined grains, sweets and fats. The price disparity between healthful and less healthful foods appears to be growing.This study demonstrates a new method for linking longitudinal retail price data with objective, nutrient-based ratings of the nutritional quality of foods and beverages. Retail prices for 378 foods and beverages were obtained from major supermarket chains in the Seattle, WA for 2004–2008. Nutritional quality was based on energy density (kcal/g) and two measures of nutrient density, calculated using the Naturally Nutrient Rich (NNR) score and the Nutrient Rich Foods index (NRF_9.3). Food prices were expressed as $/100 g edible portion and as $/1000 kcal. Foods were stratified by quintiles of energy and nutrient density for analyses.Both measures of nutrient density were negatively associated with energy density and positively associated with cost per 1000 kcal. The mean cost of foods in the top quintile of nutrient density was $27.20/1000 kcal and the 4-year price increase was 29.2%. Foods in the bottom quintile cost a mean of $3.32/1000 kcal and the 4-year price increase was 16.1%.There is a growing price disparity between nutrient-dense foods and less nutritious options. Cost may pose a barrier to the adoption of healthier diets and so limit the impact of dietary guidance. Nutrient profiling methods provide objective criteria for tracking retail prices of foods in relation to their nutritional quality and for guiding food and nutrition policy.     

Food consumption patterns and malnourished Indian children: Is there a link?

Despite its economic success, India has made little progress towards meeting its Millennium Development Goal targets of reducing undernourishment, particularly among children. In this paper, we use nationally representative datasets, the National Family Health Surveys (NFHS II and NFHS III) and the National Sample Survey (55th and the 61st rounds) to analyse the link, if any, between child nutritional outcomes and calorie intakes. Our analysis finds evidence of an improvement in the height-for-age z-scores, but a worsening in weight-for-height z-scores for children aged 0–3 over the period 1998/1999–2005/2006. There is also evidence of a sharp decline in per adult equivalent calorie intake from the principal food items over roughly this same period. Moreover, this decline was observed across all the expenditure quintiles. Our analysis is therefore able to identify a co-movement of declining nutritional intake for both adults and children and a lack of progress in improving nutritional outcomes of children.     

Women and food aid: a developmental perspective

The unique aspect of food aid projects is that food, rather than money, is used for achieving developmental objectives. As food is usually controlled by women, they benefit most from considering it to be of economic value. Poor women seem to be short of resources--time and money--which can be supplemented by food aid. Through its income-transfer effect, food aid can enable women to work fewer hours/day and thus have more discretionary time. It can also provide, directly or indirectly, the cash necessary for women to use skills they already possess to set themselves up in small businesses. Food aid projects achieve their developmental objectives through: the nutritional content of the distributed commodity; the income transfer effect; cooperatives or associations; specific activities associated with the project; community improvement aspects resulting from the project; and provision of budgetary support to release resources for additional developmental activities. There are a number of ways through which food aid exerts its effect on women from a developmental perspective. Consumption of the food aid commodity provides women with an improved diet. Food aid as an income transfer can enable women to have more discretionary time. Providing women with opportunities for income-generating activities is an important aspect of development. Women's cooperatives or associations funded by food aid commodities can provide women with income. Current food aid projects, if properly planned, can be beneficial to women without the incorporation of specific activities or skills training. One way that food aid helps women gain more time is by freeing them from wage employment. Another way is to use the income transfer for the purchasing of consumer goods that reduce their labor.     

Towards a food and nutrition policy in Tanzania

Fragments of a nutrition policy are seen throughout the different phases of Tanzania's modern history. Efforts of the pre-Independence period culminated in formation of a committee on nutrition which advocated improving food storage, food legislation and standardization, and nutrition education. After independence, an initial period of concentration on cash crops was followed by increased cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, and some nutritional surveys were undertaken. After the Arusha Declaration in 1967 a basic needs strategy giving greater stress to food production and adequate nutrition received emphasis, and a Food and Nutrition Centre was established with 4 departments: food science and technology; manpower development; medical nutrition; and planning and coordination. Emphasis on production is reflected in a target of reducing malnutrition by 30 to 50% in every region by 1981, and an interdisciplinary approach is being used to achieve this goal. The basic similarity in proposed activities during the various phases of Tanzania's history indicates that political will is necessary for carrying out the policies.     

Socioeconomic impacts of school feeding programmes: empirical evidence from a South Indian village

Tamil Nadu a poverty-stricken rural community in South India, funds a school feeding program with about 10% of the state budget. Comparisons of nutrition and literacy show that they are significantly related. No studies have yet been performed to analyse the effect of the feeding programs on aspects of a household's economic and social welfare. The feeding program in Tamil Nadu extends throughout the year, 7 days a week. It provides not only a reason for children to attend school, but also employment opportunities for those who wish to cook. 455 households were surveyed from 1 village using. A Gini coefficient of inequality to determine inequality levels of nutrition, food, and consumption expenditure. Sen's index of poverty was used to calculate the reduction in poverty levels. 3 household groups were defined: the agricultural labor, the silk weaver, and the cultivator. Linear program modelling utilized these 3 groups to study the total effect of nutrition on education. Linear regression was then used to determine the effect of the feeding program on participation in school. At the village level, a reduction of inequality in consumption and intake, an increase in energy intake, and a decrease in poverty level were found. In agricultural labor and silk weaver households, most of the money was spent on cereal food grains and children were mostly uneducated. If modelled to assume that children must be educated and are educated in schools providing food, results suggest that the increase in nutrition helps retain the children in the schools. Cultivator household response to the food programs was poor, since they usually have enough money to meet nutritional needs. Household income and school nutrition, but not adult literacy affect school participation. In general, nutrition offered in school caused a subsequent increase in household purchases of non-cereal items in the first 2 household types.     

Food aid and nutrition: The case of Botswana

Food aid is widely used to stimulate and sustain nutrition projects. Christopher Stevens examines the link between the two by reference to a single case study. Botswana has received more WFP food aid per head than any other state, and has used much of it on continuous feeding projects. While the programmes are potentially very important for the poorest groups, they miss many who are in need. Nevertheless, they have achieved a good deal, possibly in ways that are not yet fully recognised, and represent an interesting use of foreign aid to support recurrent expenditure.