Economics of Micronutrient Malnutrition in Developing Countries

Abstract: Micronutrient malnutrition, especially iron, iodine, vitamin A and zinc deficiency, is widespread among the poor in developing countries, in particular in Sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia. The insufficient intake of minerals and vitamins causes and activates diseases and is often responsible for poor physical and poor mental human development. Beyond the human suffering, the economic growth potential of affected regions is retarded. Low household incomes and insufficient nutrient status are phenomena which often reinforce each other. We refine health economics approaches to measure the human and economic costs of micronutrient deficiencies and apply these approaches to India and other developing countries. Furthermore, this project seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the determinants of nutritional deficiencies among the poor, using household level food consumption data and econometric techniques. Results are a set of consumption elasticities for different micronutrients with respect to household income, food prices, and other socioeconomic factors. These elasticities are used for simulations, analyzing the nutritional impacts of different policies. Empirically, these studies focus on Malawi and several countries in Eastern Africa

Researchers involved: Olivier Ecker, Alexander Stein, Matin Qaim, Katinka Weinberger (AVRDC)

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