| Abstract: | In 1978, an experiment was undertaken in Bangladesh to test the possibility of targeting part of the country's public food system toward the poorer and more malnourished population groups through the introduction of a lower-status, but nutritionally valuable food. Sorghum, as a representative inexpensive coarse grain, was selected and introduced into a set of ration shops in both urban and rural areas. Given the low, or negative, income elasticity of demand for sorghum among the middle class, offtakes in the urban test were low. However, in the rural areas, offtakes were substantial, particularly among the lower-income groups, reaching almost 70% in one of the two districts studied. Although this would suggest that the programme has considerable potential in affecting malnutrition and, to a lesser extent, the distribution of income, other information collected on the rural ration system as a whole indicates that, unless the larger system is reoriented, this potential has little chance of being realized. |
