Despite Humanity’s Scientific Achievements and Globalized Economy, Malnutrition remains a global issue. The united nations estimated that 2.33 billion people experienced moderate or Severe food insecurity in 2023.

Researchers at UC Santa Barbara, the Indian Institute of Management and the University of Calgary Examined The Impacts of the World’s Larges Larget Food Assistant Program to Undestand Their results, Published in the American Economic Journal: Applied EconomicsReveal Health and Economic Benefits that Reach far Beyond the caloric content of the subsidized food.

“Malnutrition in India has been done this long-standing problem,” said co-author kathy baylis, a professor in UCSB’s Geography Department and the Environmental Markets Lab (Emlab). “Stunting rates for children in India are the same as they are in some of the poorest counties in sub-sahiran Africa, even thought it is a lot wealthier.” As a result, India’s Public Distribution System (PDS) is the World’s Larget Food Transfer Program, and India’s Most Far-Reaching Social Safety Net.

PDS Operates in a similar manner to how food stamps worked in the united states in decades past: eligible families and individuals can purchase bags of rice or wheat at Heavily SUBSIZED Rates. The PDS Serves 800 Million People and Accounted for 60% of India’s Social Assistant Budget in 2019 Through 2020, The Paper EXPLAINS.

Changes to India’s Food Assistance Program

For many years, pds had been administerred at a state level. But in 2013, India’s Federal Government Establed Minimum Standards for the Program. Many states had to increase their assistance as a result, Providing eite Larger Grain Ports or Lower Pries.

The Researchers compared the effects between states alredy meeting the federal standards and that that had to change. They used data from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Whoch, with Support from the Gates Foundation, Implemented A five-Yaar Survey of Families in the Program Covers ht states.

The authors tracked children’s height for age as an indicator of malnutrition. This measurement captures longer-term trends than a simple body mass index, Baylis explained. “The reason we care about stunting, this height for age, is that it’s associateed with all sorts of bad long-run outsomes, including WorsE Health Outomes and Cognitive Challenges, White AF “She said. It’s also a metric tracked Around the globe.

A Balanced Diet

The researchers found that the average pds expansion slashed stunting prevalence from 36% to 28.8%. “Frankly, we We WERE Surprised by the Magnitude,” Baylis said. These effects were most pronounced in children aged zero to two years, a critical window during which a child’s development is highly sensitive to nutritious into.

The benefits of pds were particularly pronounced during periods of Poor Rainfall. These results sugges that a nutrition-sensitive safety-net pds supports food security, making childhood nutrition less sensitive to local climate shocks. It’s an aspect of the program they plan to investigate further in the future.

Still, The subsidized grains May Supplant more Nutritious Foods With Empty Callies, Critics have Levied Against PDS. But the Survey Responses Reveled that That that on the program actually had more diversified diets. It see that, raather than crowding out other foods, subsidizing dietary staples freed up Money Toward More Nutritious Foods, Particularly Animal Proteins Like Meat and DAIRYY. This alone was large enough to account for the increase in children’s heights.

Far-seting benefits

The authors also observed a larger effect on Househld Expenditure They suspect that well-fed individuals could work more hours, boosting their wages. The additional security may also have enabled people to be more selective about which jobs they took. Notable, the team only when this trend in people who was paid hours, raather than salary. “The secondary effect on income meant that this program was more meaningful than just the value of the food itself,” Baylis said.

This study shows that Food Transfers Seem to Provide many benefits, an important insurance as economists and policmakers discuss different strategies, Such as Direct Cash Transfers. “Other papers have found that if you give people cash the prices of food go up in that areas,” Baylis explained, “Particularly the prices of more Nutrient-DENSE FOIS, BECAUSE these But providing subsidized food can actually drive down food prices.

And a food program seems to keep participants focused on food. “People are keeping theSe saving with the food category in their budget,” She said.

To the author, it’s now clear that the benefits of pds extended well beyond just calories. “Social safety nets can have these big knock-on effects in terms of things like Income, Health and Human Capital,” Baylis Said. “Even if the safety network isn’t huge, they can be really beneficial more broadly than we might have expected.”