Poverty, Household Food Security and Nutrition in Rural Areas

Managing food security in a predominantly rural economy such as India, requires an understanding not only of how agricultural policies of food supply and incomes but also how households acquire food and cope with insecurity of food. The main concern of this study is to trace the pathways from economic and social policies to food security and ultimately to nutrition. This work represents comprehensive analysis of the data on 300 households collected in the drought prone areas of Ananthpur district, Andhra Pradesh. Two rounds of survey was conducted in the present study to understand the difference in mechanisms operating between "peak" and "lean" seasons. The study will be of particular interest to natural and social scientists, policy makers and NGO staff. These unique data set enables researchers examine the temporal dimensions of food security, income, consumption, nutritional status and many other issues that can not be adequately addressed.