The Cost of Nutritious Food in South Asia
The high cost of nutritious foods can worsen poor diets and nutrition outcomes especially among low-income households. Yet little is known about the spatial and temporal patterns of the cost of nutritious diets in South Asia, where malnutrition in...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/382091534429994437/The-cost-of-nutritious-food-in-South-Asia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30284 |
| Summary: | The high cost of nutritious foods can
worsen poor diets and nutrition outcomes especially among
low-income households. Yet little is known about the spatial
and temporal patterns of the cost of nutritious diets in
South Asia, where malnutrition in multiple forms remains
high. Using existing food price data from Sri Lanka,
Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India, two methods are applied to
assess the affordability of nutritious foods: Cost of a
Recommended Diet (CoRD) and Nutritious Food Price Index
(NPI). The analysis finds that the cost of a nutritious diet
is 38 percent higher in Sri Lanka using CoRD compared to the
cost of a (calorie-based) diet that meets basic food needs,
and 15 percent higher in Afghanistan. In addition, CoRD
varies across cities due to variability in the price of
dairy and vegetables. Comparison of the NPI and the food
Consumer Price Index (CPI) indicates that, for some
countries, the price of a nutritious food basket varies more
by season and has been increasing at a faster rate than the
price of a typical food basket. This phenomenon is largely
due to the variable cost of vegetables. |
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