Food Insecurity, Intrahousehold Dynamics, and Lifecourse Outcomes in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

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Food Insecurity (FI) involves insufficient or inconsistent access to enough safe and nutritious food to sustain a healthy life. While there is a large literature on the negative consequences of FI for the health and well-being of children from high-income countries, findings from high-income settings may not apply in other contexts. Evidence on the long-term impacts of FI on health, skills acquisition, and employment and educational trajectories from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is extremely limited, particularly focusing on late childhood through adolescence. Evidence from a lifecourse perspective, where consideration is given to how the timing (when FI occurs) and persistence (how long it lasts) of FI might matter is also very sparse. What evidence does exist in this area does not consider how the risk and experience of FI may be different for different individuals within the household. This project will address gaps in the evidence on FI in three key ways:1. I will document the long-term impacts of FI for children and adolescents in four LMICs: India, Ethiopia, Vietnam, and Peru. I will begin by applying statistical models to Young Lives data, a survey on children's well-being that has tracked outcomes (including FI) for children in all four countries since 2002. Beyond considerable negative implications for health and well-being, the detrimental impacts of FI have the potential to substantially stymie economic growth. 2. I will also apply statistical models to Young Lives data to consider what makes some families resilient --that is, why is it that not all families in poverty experience FI, while some households above the poverty line do experience FI? Of particular importance will be the role of extended family and government programs in helping families to get by. 3. Findings from the statistical models will then be validated through collection and analysis of rich, in-depth interview data with families about their experiences of economic hardship and FI. Building on these findings, I will then examine how we can measure individual-level FI in survey data. Current standard practice in survey data is to measure FI as a household level phenomenon. However, this approach cannot capture inequalities within households, where some members of the household may have better access to food than others. Measurement of individual-level FI alongside household-based measures is a necessary next step for understanding inequalities. I will draw on my findings from Young Lives and my qualitative interviews in order to develop a new individual-level measure of FI. Given that, of the global food insecure population, 1/9 live in India alone, and undernourishment is increasing most in sub-Saharan Africa and South America, my focus on the selected countries promises to have a tremendous impact on global FI. This cross-national focus will also enable mutual policy learning between countries. The importance of FI will grow in coming decades, driven by e.g. climate change. This is particularly salient in LMICs, where agriculture is vital--for example, 85% of Ethiopians depend on agriculture for their livelihoods.I will achieve the my goals in this project by building on my strong track record of analysing survey data and collecting and analysing interview data in LMICs in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Capitalizing on existing data (Young Lives) which I have previous experience analysing will provide a low-risk, high-efficiency means of generating evidence on FI in India. I will then extend my analysis to the other three countries for which there are Young Lives data, as well as collecting primary qualitative data and developing and testing a new measure of individual-level FI. These efforts will be supported by leveraging my existing in-country partnerships, developing new partnerships, and assembling an outstanding research team.