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Availability of Food and Nutrients in India: The Food Balance Sheet Approach

ICAS-VI, Rio de Janeiro, October 23-25, 2013

Ankush AgrawalIndian Institute of Technology Delhi, India

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Background• Concerns regarding food and nutrition security

– Global Hunger Index: 67/81 (severity of hunger in the country ‘alarming’)

– Agricultural growth in the past: unstable in general although improved during recent period

– Climate change: high dependence on monsoon• It is not just the overall production but the availability pattern

too is an important determinant of the welfare of the poor– Nearly 43% of the children in the country are underweight– Nutrition deficiency among the adults

• Important to have a reliable information base of nutritient production and availability

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Objectives• Alternative food balance sheets for India

– The food balance sheet is a comprehensive picture of the pattern of a country's food supply during a specific period

– Estimates of availability of macro- and micro-nutrients in India. Specifically, trends and composition of nutrients

• Consistency of the nutrient availability worked out in this paper with the food balance sheets prepared by the UN– Also, FAO food balance sheets do not provide estimates of

micronutrients• Largely a supply side view

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Methodology (1)• We group the food items in the following three

categories– Field crops: foodgrains, nine oilseeds, and sugarcane– Animal and dairy foods– Horticultural crops: fruits, vegetables, and nuts

• Physical production and availability

• Nutrient production and availability

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FAO estimates and the present study

• Difference in nutritive values– Nutritive value of different food items vary perceptibly across

countries– Dietary energy: the nutritive value used by FAO is lower for 69 and

higher for 37 food items in the Indian case• Ambiguity on

– Data sources, edible portion, ‘estimates made by the FAO staff’• Corrections for processing

– The reliability of estimates for India, being based on few samples from processing industries, is questionable

• FAO estimates include tea, coffee, and spices but this study does not

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Methodology (2)• Nutrients considered

– Macronutrients: energy and protein– Micronutrients

• Vitamins: B1, B4 and C• Minerals: Calcium, phosphorous, and iron• Sodium

– Units• Energy: Kcal; other items: unit of weight (gms or mg)

• Study period: 1990-91 to 2010-11 – Three year averages

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Data• Data Sources

– Food production; Seed, feed, and wastage; Imports and exports: Ministry of Agriculture of the Government of India

• Minor difference with the FAO figures– Nutritive values of food items; edible portions:

Gopalan et al. (1989) and other studies• Compatibility and related issues

– Units of measurement (eggs, coconut, etc)– Variety (pulses)

Indices of growth for population and production of foodgrain, oilseeds and sugarcane

1950

-51

1953

-54

1956

-57

1959

-60

1962

-63

1965

-66

1968

-69

1971

-72

1974

-75

1977

-78

1980

-81

1983

-84

1986

-87

1989

-90

1992

-93

1995

-96

1998

-99

2001

-02

2004

-05

2007

-08

2010

-1150

150

250

350

450

550

650

Pulses Foodgrain OilseedsSugarcane Population

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Physical Production and Availability(per capita per day)

• Field crops– Foodgrains: decline in production and availability

• The decline is mostly on the account of rice• Production of pulses and coarse cereals too declined

– Animal and dairy foods• Production as well as availability increased steadily

– Horticultural crops• Fruits: increase (banana, citrus, papaya and sapota)• Vegetables: increase (all except sweet potato and tapioca)• Nuts: stagnant

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Nutrient Production and Availability (1)• Macronutrients

– Dietary energy• Production: 2800 Kcal per capita • Availability: 2400-2500 Kcal per capita • Poverty line (2300) and RDA (2480)• Dietary energy available from cereals has declined though the

same has been compensated by animal and dairy foods, and horticultural crops

– Protein• Production: marginal increase (86 grams per capita to 89)• Availability: 73 grams to 76; RDA (58)• Increase mostly on the account of animal and dairy foods

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Nutrient Production and Availability (2)

• Micronutrients– Vitamins

• No increase in availability of B1 and B4, availability of C increased

• Availability higher than the RDA– Minerals

• Availability of iron is stagnant• Increase in calcium, phosphorous, and sodium• Present availability of iron barely equals the RDA

requirement

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Sources of Nutrients: Energy

1993-94

1999-00

2004-05

2009-100%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Horticultural crops

Milk

Sugarcane

Oilseeds

Pulses

Coarse Cereals

Wheat

Rice

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Sources of Nutrients: Protein

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Sources of Nutrients: Micronutrients• Not much change is apparent in the composition

during the last 20 years (hence 2009-10 figures)• Food Item B1 B4 C Cal Ph Iron Sod

Rice 6.52 16.77 0.00 2.34 17.17 6.12 7.57Wheat 42.71 42.41 0.00 8.37 28.69 40.46 12.70Coarse cereals 6.61 3.88 1.90 1.29 5.34 7.52 6.84Pulses 4.41 2.63 0.53 4.15 3.72 5.72 3.38Oilseeds 25.00 22.10 0.04 18.84 19.05 18.57 0.00Sugarcane 0.00 0.00 0.00 5.98 1.37 7.37 0.00EFM 0.49 1.04 2.17 5.05 1.48 1.26 3.02Milk 0.00 1.04 4.17 44.97 13.77 2.05 45.61Fruits 3.43 1.99 31.48 2.00 1.40 2.92 10.13Vegetables 9.31 7.21 59.44 6.56 4.71 5.91 10.76Nuts 0.98 0.92 0.27 0.44 3.31 2.09 0.00

All Items 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

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Alternative Estimates of Availability

Year/ period

Energy (Kcal/person/day) Protein (g/person/day )

FAO NSSO This study FAO NSSO This study

1992-1994 2338.3 2132.7 2432.66 55.3 59.3 73.4

1998-2000 2270.0 2150.8 2481.56 55.8 59.0 71.4

2003-2005 2264.7 2040.2 2457.23 55.0 57.0 73.2

Horticultural Crops ~90 Kcal

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Dietary energy, protein and fat consumptionThe BRICS countries

Energy Kcal/person/day

Proteing/person/day

Fat g/person/day

1994-1996

1999-2001

2003-2005

1994-1996

1999-2001

2003-2005

1994-1996

1999-2001

2003-2005

Brazil 2,872 2,875 3,094 77 79 84 85 99 104

Russia 2,862 2,905 3,100 88 86 92 79 77 87

India 2,343 2,352 2,358 57 56 56 44 50 52

China 2,811 2,899 2,940 79 85 88 70 80 86

South Africa 2,753 2,792 2,900 72 73 76 69 71 77

World 2,688 2,730 2,768 73 75 76 70 75 78

Source: FAO Statistical Yearbook 2009

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Conclusion• The availability of macro- and micro-nutrients during the last

two decades merely kept pace with the population growth– Dietary energy: stagnant– Protein: marginal improvement– Vitamins: B1 and B4 declined, C improved– Minerals: improvement, Iron: stagnant– However, ensuring food security to the masses in India is more a

distributional or an access issue than the availability at the national level

• Sources of nutrients– Shift from cereals

• Compared to FAO, our estimates are slightly higher• Need for systematic studies on post-harvest losses, food

processing, and stocks

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Thank you

Comments and Suggestions

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Production and populationCompounded Annual Growth Rates

Year Cereals Pulses Food grains Oilseed Sugar

cane Egg Fish Meat Milk Population

1951-61 4.38 3.30 4.22 3.79 6.07 4.63 4.43 1.64 1.98

1961-71 2.89 -0.92 2.41 1.79 1.78 10.41 4.23 1.50 2.24

1971-81 2.58 0.35 2.36 1.98 3.81 3.36 3.25 3.87 2.23

1981-91 3.07 1.41 2.94 6.19 3.15 7.38 5.47 5.12 2.16

1991-01 1.24 -0.94 1.09 -0.61 1.99 5.72 3.72 4.13 1.97

2001-09 2.21 3.06 2.26 6.24 0.49 5.15 3.13 9.66 3.52 1.64

Notes: All computations are based on three year averages. Among the eatables, eggs are in numbers and other items are in weight.

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Production and populationIndices of growth

1950-51

1952-53

1954-55

1956-57

1958-59

1960-61

1962-63

1964-65

1966-67

1968-69

1970-71

1972-73

1974-75

1976-77

1978-79

1980-81

1982-83

1984-85

1986-87

1988-89

1990-91

1992-93

1994-95

1996-97

1998-99

2000-01

2002-03

2004-05

2006-07

2008-09

2010-1150

150

250

350

450

550

650

Pulses Foodgrain Oilseeds Sugarcane Population

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Availability of foodper capita per day (grams)

Year Cereals Pulses Oilseeds Sugar Milk EFMGross availability          1993-94 534.6 41.7 65.3 76.1 189.5 19.71999-00 527.0 36.4 59.0 81.6 216.3 20.72004-05 489.4 35.0 65.5 63.6 234.8 22.02008-09 506.7 34.8 65.3 72.2 253.5 26.6Domestic supply          1993-94 470.7 32.5 58.8 76.1 189.5 13.51999-00 465.5 28.3 53.1 81.6 216.3 19.72004-05 431.3 27.3 59.0 63.6 234.8 20.92008-09 446.5 27.1 58.8 72.2 253.5 25.4Net availability          1993-94 469.9 33.6 58.8 76.1 189.5 13.41999-00 459.9 28.8 53.1 81.6 216.3 19.62004-05 415.1 29.9 59.0 63.6 234.8 20.82008-09 433.5 32.3 58.8 72.2 253.5 25.3

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Availability of dietary energy, protein & fatsper capita per day

Total Cereals Pulses Oilseeds Sugar Milk EFMAvailability of Dietary Energy (Kcals)        1993-94 2530.5 1570.7 114.2 317.5 291.4 174.3 16.21999-00 2520.2 1543.9 97.8 286.7 312.6 199.0 22.92004-05 2348.3 1388.4 101.4 318.6 243.6 216.0 25.62008-09 2492.4 1454.2 109.6 317.3 276.4 233.2 31.0Availability of Proteins (grams)         1993-94 70.7 42.0 6.7 11.8 0.3 7.1 1.91999-00 70.6 41.6 5.8 10.6 0.3 8.1 3.22004-05 68.5 37.2 6.0 11.8 0.3 8.8 3.52008-09 72.9 39.3 6.5 11.8 0.3 9.5 4.4 Availability of Fats (grams)        1993-94 43.0 5.7 1.0 23.5 0.1 12.2 0.81999-00 42.3 5.5 0.9 21.2 0.1 14.0 1.02004-05 45.5 5.0 0.9 23.6 0.1 15.1 1.22008-09 47.1 5.2 1.0 23.5 0.1 16.4 1.4