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Cereal Production, Undernourishment and Food Insecurity in South Asia
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Cereal Production, Undernourishment and Food Insecurity in South Asia

Author

Listed:
  • Mazhar Mughal

    (ESC PAU - Ecole Supérieure de Commerce, Pau Business School)

  • Charlotte Fontan Sers

    (ESC PAU - Ecole Supérieure de Commerce, Pau Business School)

Abstract

South Asia remains one of the major strongholds of hunger in the world, despite the fact that, following the Green Revolution, cereal production in the countries of this region tripled during the second half of the 20th century. This study examines the role played by this increase in cereal production in improving the region's nutrition and food security situation. We study the association between the different aspects of food security and cereal production in South Asia that have prevailed over the past 25 years. We find a beneficial role of the production and yield of cereals in lowering the extent of undernourishment. A 1% increase in cereal production and yield is associated with upto 0.84% decrease in the prevalence of undernourishment. The impact is significant over a period of three years. The positive effect is particularly evident in the case of rice and maize production. An improvement is seen in the aspects of availability, stability and utilisation of food security but not in the aspect of access. These findings are robust to alternative specifications and techniques. The results explain, in part, the means by which South Asian nations have managed to stall relative increases in extreme hunger and food insecurity.

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  • Mazhar Mughal & Charlotte Fontan Sers, 2020. "Cereal Production, Undernourishment and Food Insecurity in South Asia," Working Papers hal-02089616, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-02089616
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-02089616v2
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    2. Henri Njangang & Simplice A. Asongu & Eric Mouchili, 2022. "Does corruption starve? An African perspective," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 22/022, African Governance and Development Institute..
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    4. Sayed Alim Samim & Zhiquan Hu & Sebastian Stepien & Sayed Younus Amini & Ramin Rayee & Kunyu Niu & George Mgendi, 2021. "Food Insecurity and Related Factors among Farming Families in Takhar Region, Afghanistan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-17, September.
    5. Njangang, Henri & Asongu, Simplice A. & Mouchili, Eric, 2024. "Does corruption starve Africa? The mitigating effect of political distribution of power," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 171-197.
    6. Oluyemi Adewole Okunlola & Yacouba Kassouri, 2023. "Empirical investigation of the agriculture–malnutrition nexus in Africa: Spatial clustering and spillover effects," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(2), pages 685-709, May.
    7. Jeetendra Prakash Aryal & Cathy R. Farnworth & Ritika Khurana & Srabashi Ray & Tek B. Sapkota & Dil Bahadur Rahut, 2020. "Does women’s participation in agricultural technology adoption decisions affect the adoption of climate‐smart agriculture? Insights from Indo‐Gangetic Plains of India," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 973-990, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    undernourishment; South Asia; food security; cereal production; O13; South Asia JEL Codes : O11; 053; Q18;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy

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