Got milk? The impact of Heifer International’s livestock donation programs in Rwanda on nutritional outcomes

International animal donation programs have become an increasingly popular way for people living in developed countries to transfer resources to families living in developing countries. We evaluate the impact of Heifer International’s dairy cow and meat goat donation programs in Rwanda. We find that the program substantially increases dairy and meat consumption among Rwandan households who were given a dairy cow or a meat goat, respectively. We also find marginally statistically significant increases in weight-for-height z-scores and weight-for-age z-scores of about 0.4 standard deviations among children aged 0–5 years in households that were recipients of meat goats, and increases in height-for-age z-scores of about 0.5 standard deviations among children in households that received dairy cows. Our results suggest that increasing livestock ownership in developing countries may significantly increase consumption of nutrient dense animal-source foods and improve nutrition outcomes.     

Water scarcity and food trade in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries

This study investigates food trade patterns in relation to water resources availability in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries (SEMED). Examinations show that most of these countries have a high dependence on the import of water intensive crops – cereal, vegetable oil and sugar, in the domestic food supply. The region as a whole is marginally a net exporter of fruits and vegetables, while variations are substantial across countries. Multi-variable regression analyses show that intensification of water scarcity is an important factor in explaining the increase in food import in the SEMED countries during the past two decades. It also finds that while GDP per capita has a strong influence on the level of food import in a country, its impact on changes in the import during the same period is rather modest. No significant relationship is found between the trade of fruits and vegetables and water resources availability. The projection on food import with respect to the decline in per capita water resources availability results in an increase of 40%, 39% and 14%, respectively, for cereal, vegetable oil and sugar by 2020 in the region, holding other factors constant. The European Union (EU) is the major food trade partner of the SEMED countries, except for cereal. About 70% of the fruit export and 55% of the vegetable export of the region currently go to the EU market. Expanding the export of fruits and vegetables is conducive to improving the value of water use in the SEMED countries. However, the expansion is constrained partly by the barriers in the destination markets, notably the EU.     

Westernization of Asian diets and the transformation of food systems: Implications for research and policy

Rapid economic and income growth, urbanization, and globalization are leading to a dramatic shift of Asian diets away from staples and increasingly towards livestock and dairy products, vegetables and fruit, and fats and oils. While the diversification of diets away from the traditional dominance of rice with rising incomes is expected and observed, current food consumption patterns are showing signs of convergence towards a Western diet. The diet transition is characterized by increased consumption of: wheat; temperate fruit and vegetables and high protein and energy dense food. Globalization and the consequent global interconnectedness of the urban middle class, is the driving force behind the convergence of diets. The rapid spread of global supermarket chains and fast food restaurants is reinforcing the above trends.     

The effect of smileys as motivational incentives on children’s fruit and vegetable choice,consumption and waste: A field experiment in schools in five European countries

To assess whether smiley stamps work as a motivational incentive to promote fruit and vegetable eating among children, we conducted a field experiment in ten primary schools in five European countries using one control and one treatment school per country. The six-week experiment was split into three two-week phases before, during and after the smiley was implemented. During the smiley phase, the children received a smiley stamp for choosing a portion of fruits or vegetables. We find an increase attributed to the smiley stamp on children’s fruit and vegetable choice and consumption, but also waste. Comparing the effects across countries, we observe significant variations in the smiley effect. This study thus demonstrates, in general, that a low-cost, easy-to-implement incentive such as a smiley stamp has the potential to motivate school children to increase their fruit and vegetable consumption; the study simultaneously underscores the high relevance of context for the effects of incentives.     

Impact of the eKutir ICT-enabled social enterprise and its distributed micro-entrepreneur strategy on fruit and vegetable consumption: A quasi-experimental study in rural and urban communities in Odisha,India

This paper reports results of a quasi-experimental study designed to assess the impact of an information and communication technology (ICT) –enabled ecosystem, led by the social enterprise eKutir, on household fruit and vegetable consumption in Odisha, India. eKutir aims at providing self-sustaining solutions to poverty and undernutrition in developing countries by leveraging ICTs through ecosystem development anchored into a distributed micro-entrepreneurial strategy. eKutir’s farming micro-entrepreneurs (FME) provide agricultural knowledge, inputs, and market linkages at household and community level, followed by progressive integration of other micro-entrepreneurs at different points along the value chain on both supply and demand sides. The present case examined core FMEs along with retail micro-entrepreneurs (RMEs) deployed in low-resource rural and urban communities. Structural equation modeling was used to compare rural outcomes and the role of homegrown consumption as a mediator. Multivariable linear regression and ANOVA were used to test group differences in the urban sample. Positive β coefficients represent an increase in fruit and vegetable consumption in communities exposed to the eKutir ecosystem in contrast to the comparison group. Farmers in rural communities exposed to the eKutir ecosystem consumed more overall fruit and vegetables (β = 0.30, p < 0.001) and fruits alone (β = 0.53, p < 0.05) than those farmers in comparison villages unexposed to the eKutir ecosystem. This effect was concentrated in households exposed to both FMEs + RMEs (β = 0.60, p < 0.0001) and was mediated by homegrown consumption. A non-significant directional effect was observed in comparing fruit and vegetable consumption in rural households exposed to RMEs only over comparison communities. Urban consumers, exposed to the eKutir ecosystem through access to RMEs operating in their neighborhood community, did not increase their fruit or vegetable consumption compared to non-intervention communities. The results reveal the potential of reaching nutritional impacts through homegrown consumption and with farm-level support outside of governmental/philanthropic interventions through an ICT-enabled social enterprise. They also underscore, however, the challenges of both changing eating behaviour and intervening along the agri-food value chain. Implication for more effective digital ecosystem design and intersectoral policies are discussed.     

Fruits and vegetables availability for human consumption in Latin American and Caribbean countries: Patterns and determinants

Inadequate intake of fruits and vegetables (F&V) is one of the leading causes of chronic diseases in the world. This study examined the patterns and determinants of F&V availability for human consumption in Latin American and Caribbean countries between 1991 and 2002. The results showed that there were considerable disparities between and within countries and only one-third of the sampled countries (if only 20% wastage is assumed) could achieve the World Health Organization’s recommendation of 146 kg of F&V intake/capita/year. The elasticities estimated from a fixed effect regression also showed that income, urbanization, price, and poverty were some of the important factors that affect the long-term availability of F&V.     

People’s willingness to eat meat from animals vaccinated against epidemics

Animal epidemics are associated with significant economic damage and they negatively influence consumers’ meat consumption. Vaccination can be used as a strategy to prevent the outbreak of animal epidemics. The current study examines people’s willingness to eat meat from animals vaccinated against an animal epidemic. We asked people separately about their willingness to eat meat from animals vaccinated against both animal epidemics and against zoonoses. Zoonoses are also animal epidemics, but they might affect human health. A questionnaire was sent out to a representative sample of Swiss people and yielded N = 1033 completed datasets. Although animal vaccinations were highly accepted among those surveyed, compared to a wide range of other animal applications such as antibiotics, only about a quarter of those surveyed indicated that they would eat meat from animals vaccinated against a zoonosis. Some 60% indicated they would eat meat from animals vaccinated against an animal epidemic. We found attitudes about animal vaccination, knowledge about human vaccination, misunderstanding of animal treatments, and average meat consumption to significantly influence people’s willingness to eat meat from animals vaccinated against a zoonosis. Therefore, it is necessary that regulatory bodies provide information on both the safety of meat for human consumption and ways to minimize any potential health risks from the handling or consumption of meat products that might be infected in cases of zoonotic outbreaks.     

Adherence to WHO’s nutrition recommendations in the UK: Dietary patterns and policy implications from a national survey

Analysis of dietary patterns has largely focused on their association with diseases or risk factors, but limited research has been conducted on the heterogeneity of population dietary patterns and their adherence to international or national nutritional guidelines. As a result, the aim of this study is to identify latent dietary patterns of UK residents and to assess how well different segments comply with WHO dietary norms.To achieve this objective, the UK’s National Diet and Nutrition Surveys for 2011–12 dataset was analysed performing a latent class analysis on energy (kcals) derived from selected food groups. To assess adherence to different dietary patterns of the British population to nutritional guidelines, a traffic light system and a composite conformity index were developed to establish how well the identified segments comply with current dietary WHO norms regarding salt, free sugars, total fat, saturated fat, fruit and vegetables and dietary fibre.Results show four different segments which on the basis of heterogeneity of dietary patterns were named ‘high sugar/high fat consumers’, ‘prudent eaters’, ‘high fat consumers’ and ‘junk food eaters’. These segments show significant differences within and between groups in terms of dietary calories intakes and their adherence to WHO norms. Although ‘prudent eaters’ are closer to WHO dietary guidelines than other segments, none of the identified segments fully comply with dietary WHO norms. Policy implications of these findings are fully discussed in the conclusions arguing how current, future and potential dietary demand and supply measures affect consumers’ compliance with WHO norms.     

Food self-sufficiency in Micronesia: Effects of a nutrition assistance programme on food consumption

Food assistance programmes in Micronesia have been blamed for creating disincentives to agriculture and nutritionally adverse dietary habits. In 1982 a USDA commodity programme in the Northern Mariana Islands was replaced by the Nutrition Assistance Program (NAP), which required that at least 25% of food coupons be used for the purchase of local foods. Consumption of local fish and bread increased, but consumption of local fruits and vegetables declined among NAP participants. Although targeted coupons did not reverse the trend towards imported foods, the bakery and fishery endeavours indicate that improved marketing can be coupled with food stamps to increase local food production and consumption.     

Can food safety shortfalls disrupt ‘Ag for Nutrition’ gains? Evidence from Eid al-Adha

The international health community has stressed the need to raise consumption levels of animal-source foods in developing countries. Development programs based on so-called ‘agriculture for nutrition’ strategies emphasize the importance of smallholder livestock production to achieve these goals. While much of the literature has highlighted the high nutritional potential of such foods, little attention has been paid to infrastructural deficiencies for handling and processing animal-source foods, particularly meat. Such shortfalls in food safety have the potential to counteract some health gains, especially if renewed efforts to increase animal consumption are not combined with improved processing capacity. The spike in meat consumption among Muslims worldwide on Eid al-Adha provides a natural experiment to test the extent to which such food safety concerns are justified. Meat processing on this holiday often exceeds the capacity of formal slaughter and processing infrastructure, and thus provides an excellent opportunity to observe the implications of a rapid intensification of meat production and consumption across several countries. Using Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from countries in Africa and Asia, we estimate the impact of this holiday on the incidence of diarrheal illness among children. Eid al-Adha provides a plausibly exogenous source of variation in home or informally sourced meat consumption among Muslims, a natural comparison group (Non-Muslims) and independence from seasonal influences (the holiday follows the lunar Islamic calendar). We find that relative to non-Muslims, diarrhea morbidity increases for Muslim children following Eid al-Adha by 18 percent. No such similar increase is found on Eid al-Fitr, a similarly important Muslim holiday without extensive home slaughter. These findings reinforce the importance of food safety concerns in livestock sector interventions.     

Total and per capita value of food loss in the United States

There are few peer-reviewed or major published studies that estimate the total amount of food loss in developed countries and even fewer attempt to estimate the monetary value. We compiled estimates of the amount and value of food loss for more than 200 individual foods in the United States using the US Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service’s Loss-Adjusted Food Availability data and then aggregated these values to estimate the total value of food loss and the value by food group. The results indicate that in 2008, the estimated total value of food loss at the retail and consumer levels in the United States as purchased at retail prices was $165.6 billion. The top three food groups in terms of the value of food loss at these levels are: meat, poultry, and fish (41%); vegetables (17%); and dairy products (14%). Looking more closely at the estimates for the consumer level, this level of loss translates into almost 124 kg (273 lb) of food lost from human consumption, per capita, in 2008 at an estimated retail price of $390/capita/year. Food loss represents a significant share of household food expenditures: our estimates suggest that the annual value of food loss is almost 10% of the average amount spent on food per consumer in 2008 and over 1% of the average disposable income. This consumer level loss translates into over .3 kg (0.7 lb) of food per capita per day valued at $1.07/day. Our estimates of the total value of food loss in the United States and loss estimates by food group are useful in that they can generate awareness of the issue among the food industry members, governments, and consumers. Potential large-scale approaches and economic incentives to mitigate food loss in developed countries are also discussed.     

Does food retail access moderate the impact of fruit and vegetable incentives for SNAP participants? Evidence from western Massachusetts

ObjectivesThis study investigates whether the response of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants to a 30% incentive on fruit and vegetable spending varies with their access to food retailers.MethodsThe analysis exploits the random assignment of SNAP households in Hampden County, MA, to an intervention group that earned the incentive. Regression models for the impact of the incentive are augmented with measures of food retail access and interactions of random assignment status with food retail access. The main outcome—use of the SNAP benefit—is based on Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card transaction records.ResultsAlthough households that lived within a mile of a participating supermarket spent approximately $2.13 or 19% more per month on targeted fruits and vegetables at participating supermarkets than households that did not live within a mile of a participating supermarket, we found no evidence that the impact of the incentive on SNAP fruit and vegetable spending varies with distance to retailers.ConclusionsThese findings imply that incentives to purchase fruits and vegetables were equally efficacious for SNAP households with high and low access to food retailers.     

Effects of the CFA franc devaluation on urban food consumption in West Africa: overview and cross-country comparisons

This article summarizes research and policy questions, and research methods and findings of four case studies of the impacts of the 1994 CFA franc devaluation in West Africa on urban food consumption. The case studies are household surveys from Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, and Senegal. The research showed, in general, that, comparing food consumption patterns after the devaluation with those before, that: (1) total cereal intake fell, especially for the poorest; (2) the intake of imported rice held steady; (3) the intake of domestic coarse grains (millet, maize, sorghum) did not rise, except for an increase in maize intake in Burkina Faso; (4) only in Mali was there a significant shift to domestic rice; (5) imported wheat intake dropped; (6) roots, tuber and plantain consumption did not receive a boost; (7) there was an alarming “de-diversification” of the diet, especially for the poorest with reductions in meat, edible oils, and vegetables/fruit, as well as imported milk; there was, however, some increase in domestic oils/butters consumption; (8) there was some “individualization” of consumption patterns with increased importance of the informal restaurant sector. The most striking results in the context of the policy debate are that cereal intake fell, and that the (expected) shift from imported rice to local coarse grains did not occur. The lack of such a shift is explainable in terms of the lackluster supply response of the coarse grain sectors, and the resilience of rice demand based on its convenience of processing and preparation for the urban consumer. These results together imply: (1) the economics and technology of agro-processing of coarse grains need to return to the center of the cereals debate in West Africa; (2) emphasis on the capacity of local coarse grain and domestic rice producers to respond to incentives needs to be increased.     

The energy efficiency of local food systems: A comparison between different modes of distribution

The possible contribution of local sales chains to the reduction of energy consumption has been hotly debated in recent years. Some authors establish a link between the reduction of distances traveled by food and lower energy consumption due to transportation, while others hold that local supply chains have a poor energy performance. This article engages this debate by comparing the rates of energy consumption attributable to different modes of distribution of fruits and vegetables in a region of France.     

A meta-analysis of community-based studies on quality protein maize

Biofortification, or the improvement of nutritional quality in food crops, is a promising strategy to combat undernutrition, particularly among the rural poor in developing countries. However, traditional methods of impact assessment are inadequate for biofortified crops, as they do not consider their nutritional benefits. Evidence for the nutritional impact of maize varieties with improved protein quality, collectively known as quality protein maize (QPM), was evaluated using meta-analysis of randomized, controlled studies in target communities. A new and generalizable effect size was proposed to quantify the impact of QPM on a key outcome, child growth. The results indicated that consumption of QPM instead of conventional maize leads to a 12% (95% CI: 7–18%) increase in the rate of growth in weight and a 9% (95% CI: 6–15%) increase in the rate of growth in height in infants and young children with mild to moderate undernutrition from populations in which maize is the major staple food. The proposed effect size and use of bootstrapping to determine statistical significance addressed some methodological limitations in the existing studies.     

Will they buy it? The potential for marketing organic vegetables in the food vending sector to strengthen vegetable safety: A choice experiment study in three West African cities

Considering the hazardous use of synthetic pesticides in vegetable production in urban West Africa, this research investigated the marketing potential of organic vegetables in the food vending sector of Cotonou (Benin), Accra (Ghana) and Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso). Certified organic production and marketing was examined as a potential strategy to improve chemical food safety. A stratified random sampling strategy was applied to study the preferences of food vendors (n = 180) and consumers (n = 360); vegetable use, risk perception, choice preferences and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for organic certification were specifically analyzed. The results showed that awareness of chemical contamination risks was generally low. Appearance of a product was central to vendor choice; consumers attributed similar utility to taste and organic certification. Consumer WTP was calculated to be a premium of 1.04 USD (per plate) if the food served contained only certified organic vegetables. In restaurants, this would mean an average premium of 19% for a meal. If certified organic vegetable production is to make a positive impact on food safety in urban West Africa, we suggest concentrating marketing efforts on the educated “elite” who frequent restaurants. However, considering that restaurant owners exhibited a lower preference for organic certification than lower class food vendors, the marketing situation is difficult. We therefore conclude that demand from the food vending sector alone will not institutionalize domestic certification mechanisms; this underlines the need for public commitment to facilitating such change.     

Eating to save the planet: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial using individual-level food purchase data

Meat consumption is a major driver of climate change. Interventions that reduce meat consumption may improve public health and promote environmental sustainability. We conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine the effects of an awareness-raising intervention on meat consumption. We randomized undergraduate classes into treatment and control groups. Treatment groups received a 50-minute lecture on how food choices affect climate change, along with information about the health benefits of reduced meat consumption. Control classrooms received a lecture on a placebo topic. We analyzed 49,301 students’ meal purchases in the college dining halls before and after the intervention. We merged food purchase data with survey data to study heterogenous treatment effects and disentangle mechanisms. Participants in the treatment group reduced their purchases of meat and increased their purchases of plant-based alternatives after the intervention. The probability of purchasing a meat-based meal fell by 4.6 percentage points (p < 0.01), whereas the probability of purchasing a plant-based meal increased by 4.2 percentage points (p = 0.04). While the effects were stronger during the semester of the intervention, dietary shifts persisted and remained statistically significant through the full academic year. Our study provides evidence that an intervention based on informing consumers and encouraging voluntary shifts can effectively reduce the demand for meat. Our findings help to inform the international food policy debate on how to counter rising global levels of meat consumption to achieve climate change goals. To our knowledge, our study is the first to assess the effectiveness of an educational intervention to reduce meat consumption using such high-quality data (i.e. individual-level food purchases) over a prolonged period.     

The system-wide impact of healthy eating: Assessing emissions and economic impacts at the regional level

Encouraging consumers to shift their diets towards a lower meat/lower calorie alternative has been the focus of food and health policies across the world. The economic impacts of such changes on regions have been less widely examined, but are likely to be significant, especially where agricultural and food production activities are important for the region. In this study we use a multi-sectoral modelling framework to examine the environmental and economic impacts of such a dietary change, and illustrate this using a detailed model for Scotland. We find that if household food and drink consumption follows healthy eating guidelines, it would reduce both Scotland’s “footprint” and “territorial” emissions, and yet may be associated with positive economic impacts, generating a “double dividend” for both the environment and the economy. The economic impact however depends critically upon how households use the income previously spent on higher meat/higher calorie diets. Furthermore, the likely (but not modelled) benefits to health suggest the potential for a “triple dividend”.     

Towards better nutrition in Europe: Evaluating progress and defining future directions

This paper provides a snapshot of the implementation of the WHO European Food and Nutrition Action Plan 2015–2020 among Member States in the WHO European Region. The focus is on the level and degree of implementation of selected policies recommended in this regional framework to promote healthy nutrition and prevent diet related noncommunicable diseases including obesity. Data was gathered through online and off-line versions of the Global Nutrition Policy Review questionnaire in 2017, through appointed focal points from the ministries of health. Almost all (94%) countries in the European region responded to the questionnaire, although not all responses were equally detailed. Significant progress has been made in some areas of public health nutrition, such as within school food policies, product reformulation, and implementation of trans fat regulations. However, if countries are to achieve global NCD targets, more ambitious policies with appropriate breadth and depth are needed. This is mainly the case for consumer-friendly front-of-package labelling, restrictions on marketing of foods to children as well as policies to protect, promote and support exclusive breastfeeding and appropriate complementary feeding practices. Lastly, it is crucial to prioritize robust monitoring, surveillance and evaluation systems in order to understand the effect of these actions and to guide timely and appropriate adjustment of policies.     

Supermarket contracts and smallholder farmers: Implications for income and multidimensional poverty

Food systems in developing countries are changing rapidly with a growing role of modern supermarkets. Supermarkets influence supply chains and the way agricultural products are sourced from farmers. Especially for the procurement of fresh fruits and vegetables, supermarkets often contract farmers directly to ensure consistent and high-quality supply. One important question, which is addressed here, is whether smallholder farmers benefit from supermarket contracts. Previous studies address this question, but mostly focus on income effects without exploring implications for other dimensions of household welfare, such as nutrition, health, or housing conditions. Moreover, most existing studies rely on cross-section data. We add to the literature by analyzing effects of supermarket contracts on income and multidimensional poverty using three rounds of panel data collected from smallholder vegetable farmers in Kenya and econometric models with household fixed effects. On average, supermarket contracts increase household income by over 40%. We also find significant reductions in income poverty and multidimensional poverty. Quantile regressions show that farmers in all income groups benefit, but richer households benefit more than poorer ones in absolute terms. However, supermarket contracts cause the strongest reductions in multidimensional deprivations among the poorest households.