Food and nutritional security at farm household level in Meghalaya: impact of government schemes
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Date
2020-11
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College of Post Graduate Studies in Agricultural Sciences, CAU-Imphal, Umiam
Abstract
Meghalaya produced 41.82 thousand MT, 12.68 thousand MT, 21.12 thousand MT of food grains, pulses and oilseeds, respectively during the year 2016-17. However, the state faced a deficit in terms of food grains and pulses by 49.21 per cent and 86.61 per cent, respectively. At first instance, food security emphasis food availability for a household. But as a matter of fact, the households must be able to consume the right quantity of balanced foods, equivalent to approximately 2400 Kcal per capita per day; however, it was disturbing to learn that the calorie intake in Meghalaya was the least in the country with only 1703 Kcal. In order to augment to availability of food to the households, accessibility of foods has to be the corner stone. Thus, by indulgent the food availability and food consumption with its stability across farming households, the underlying determinants of malnutrition, food insecurity and the drudgery across households can be thoroughly recognized. On this aspect, the study was conducted with the following objectives 1. To calculate the household food availability from different sources 2. To understand the food consumption, requirement and gap among the farm households and 3. To access the impact of different schemes and programmes on the farm households towards food security.
The study was conducted in East Khasi Hills, West Jaintia Hills and West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya. A total of 12 villages were surveyed and 240 farming households were personally interviewed. In order to understand the food availability across different households, a food basket was prepared and 12 mostly consumed foods were selected based on the food groups as recommended by ICMR. Among the schemes, the Public Distribution system (PDS) which was under the umbrella of National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 and the Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 were selected purposively. The gap in availability and nutritional intake was estimated based on the average recommended intake by ICMR. Furthermore, paired t-test was applied to understand the impact of PDS on the beneficiary household. With a view to understand the impact of MGNREGA on the households, Gini coefficient, Lorenz curve and difference in difference (DID) method has been used.
It has been observed that households across districts follows a monotonous diet concentrating more on cereals and less emphasis on other food items like pulses, vegetables, fruits, meat and milk. Rice was still a major food crops consumed across households with a nutritional intake of approximately 1726.50 Kcal per person per day which was more than 70 per cent than the recommended intake by ICMR. Whereas, an overall contribution from the food basket was estimated to be 2086.41, there was an overall gap of 313.59 Kcal per person per day in the state. PDS has significantly increased the rice availability across households with an increased total availability by 25.86 per cent. It was also estimated that there was an increment in the total income and expenditure post MGNREGA by 17.73 per cent with an increase in the overall food expenditure by 16.69 per cent per year. The Gini-coefficient post MGNREGA was also estimated to be of 0.21 and 0.61, respectively, indicated an improvement in the distribution of income post MNGREGA period and the Lorenz curve post scheme was also closer to the equality line indicating the improved income distribution among the beneficiaries. Using DID method, it was found that there was an increased impact due to MGNREGA where the income has increased by `18080 and there was enhancement in food expenditure by `9245.84 signifying a boon to the overall development of the beneficiary households
The study recommends that proper food production has to be concentrated and encouraged in terms of crop diversification. Production and consumption of pulses and other food crops should be properly prompt. In terms of schemes, the NFSA and MGNREGA is the most applauded scheme in India and has withstood the poor households in the state thus; more monitoring should be done for better distribution to the rightful beneficiaries by the concerned departments. Whereas, there is a robust need on the nutritional education in the state and when agriculture are being taught, the issues of nutrition and its importance can be edified. The study also recommended consumption of traditional foods like as these indigenous foods are easily available, rich in micro-nutrients and are climate resilient.