31
Implications for Food Security Policy
Making
1. Government strategies intended to increase
national food production, such as
parastatal food marketing boards or pro-
ducer price supports, do not necessarily
increase access (and the security of this
access) to food, and in many cases worsen
it. The effects of national food availability-
oriented policies on the effective demand
for food and the security of food access of
vulnerable households should be consid-
ered carefully, and an automatic link be-
tween increased food production and in-
creased food security should never be
assumed. Assessing the impacts of policies
on access requires careful empirical analy-
sis of appropriately disaggregated house-
hold data.
2. The source and control of income can af-
fect whether and the extent to which in-
creased incomes for food insecure house-
holds lead to improved food consumption.
Specifically, some studies have indicated
that income generation characterized by
migration, lump-sum payments, or less fe-
male control over income may reduce the
consumption benefits of additional income.
For example, International Food Policy
Research Institute studies of agricultural
commercialization in Kenya, Rwanda, and
the Gambia found a deterioration in food
security in more commercialized house-
holds, despite their higher incomes, because
of shifting control of income from men to
women. However, there are at least a couple
of reasons for pausing before trying to ap-
6. Implications for Policy Making
and Policy Analysis
ply these findings to policy design. The first
is that effective policy instruments may be
difficult to identify. For instance, even in-
come which is directly paid to women in a
project may end up in the control of hus-
bands. But second, and perhaps more im-
portantly, there are significant methodologi-
cal concerns regarding these empirical
studies which warrant further assessment
before translating their findings into policy
actions (see folloowing section on research
implications).
3. Women's time allocation is an important
and frequently overlooked determinant of
their, and their children's, nutritional sta-
tus. Kennedy & Bouis (1993) suggest that
"the household that allocates more time to
food preparation and child care could enjoy
better nutrition because of reduced morbid-
ity, than if it had earned extra income and
spent more for food." Income generation
strategies should not assume that women's
time is in abundance, and should strive to
conform to household labor needs--for in-
stance, activities which allow women to earn
income at home (e.g., cooking, tailoring,
gardening) may be a possibility. The use of
time-saving household technologies (e.g.,
mechanized grain processing mills) should
also be encouraged. However, the purchase
of such technologies may depend on who
controls household income, as there is evi-
dence that men are often unwilling to pay
for them. The social constraints and nutri-
tional benefits of such technologies need to
be considered in policies affecting their
availability.