Agricultural Economics Research Review
Year : 2012, Volume : 25, Issue : conf
First page : ( 546) Last page : ( 546)
Print ISSN : 0971-3441. Online ISSN : 0974-0279.

Nutrition and Food Adequacy of Rural and Urban Assam: An Aspect of Sustainable Livelihood

Bhattacharjee Mahua

Amity School of Economics, Amity University, Uttar Pradesh

Online published on 9 October, 2012.

Abstract

The paper has looked into the changes in intake of nutrients and adequacy of food in the rural and urban Assam to understand the extent of vulnerability in the context of sustainable livelihood. Food security as the dominant livelihood outcome has been discussed on the basis of per capita intake of calorie, protein and fat. Data from NSS reports of various rounds were taken to understand the difference in the level of food security, primary indicator of sustainable livelihood, in the rural and urban Assam. Urban Assam has been found to be more vulnerable and insecure in food as the data has shown a declining trend in the average consumption of calories, protein and fats. Households without enough food for all 12 months in a year have shown an increasing trend in the urban Assam. Consumption of home-cooked food has declined by 9 per cent in the urban areas. The casual labour of urban Assam has been observed to be most insecure in food but the self-employed of rural Assam have been found to be relatively more secured. In terms of food commodities, cereals have been consumed in much higher quantities in the rural areas but with time their consumption has depicted a declining trend. The intake of calorie and protein has increased steadily among the rural poor and middle-class households but among rich class of households, the consumption of fats has increased.

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Keywords

Nutrition, food security, food adequacy, livelihood, calorie intake, protein intake, Assam.

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