Mapping rural food environment identifying and evaluating nutrition oriented value chain interventions

Despite significant growth in agricultural production over the past four decades in India, high malnutrition persists. The traditional approaches to address malnutrition, based on agricultural development, are deemed insufficient alone and attention is now being directed to food value chains. Households’ nutrition level depends on the consumption of appropriate food items in a right proportion. However, the physical availability of nutritious food alone does not ensure appropriate consumption. Food accessibility, affordability, convenience, desirability and utilization influence its consumption, which in turn are influenced by the internal and external food environments. The present study conducted in Mahbubnagar district of Telangana at household as well as community level analyses the local food environments, maps community perceptions on food and nutrition, and identify strategies to improve nutrition and health outcomes in rural areas.