Undernourishment is an important challenge

If hunger prevented poor people from working and earning enough to buy sufficient food, we would see most people in poverty spending everything on food and necessities. This is rarely the case. 'Food poverty traps' seem to be uncommon. Even for very poor people within low-income countries, food expenditures increase much less than one-for-one with household budgets (and even when extra income does lead to more food expenditure, this doesn't always imply more calories, but rather better-tasting calories). In India, for example, per capita consumption of calories has gone down while incomes have gone up (see Deaton and Dreze 2009).

If hunger prevented poor people from working and earning enough to buy sufficient food, we would see most people in poverty spending everything on food and necessities. This is rarely the case. 'Food poverty traps' seem to be uncommon. Even for very poor people within low-income countries, food expenditures increase much less than one-for-one with household budgets (and even when extra income does lead to more food expenditure, this doesn't always imply more calories, but rather better-tasting calories). In India, for example, per capita consumption of calories has gone down while incomes have gone up (see Deaton and Dreze 2009).

Outline

• Undernourishment is an important challenge
• Undernourishment has important consequences
• Undernourishment is not the result of a world without enough food
• Permanently ending hunger requires more than a one-off push in incomes
• Malnutrition is not only about calories
• What does this mean in terms of policy?

Independently of caloric intake, low consumption of key vitamins and minerals can also lead to malnutrition. This is referred to as 'hidden hunger'

Independently of caloric intake, low consumption of key vitamins and minerals can also lead to malnutrition. This is referred to as 'hidden hunger'

Malnutrition can arise from micro-nutrient deficiencies (i.e. lack of key vitamins and minerals which are consumed in small quantities). Anemia is an important example of 'hidden hunger'. Anemia is associated with low aerobic capacity, general weakness and lethargy, and in some cases (especially for pregnant women) it can be life-threatening.