Data Needs for Analyzing the Consumption Effects of Agricultural Policies

Excerpts from the Executive Summary: Evidence that government policies can inadvertently affect the health status of individuals in adverse ways has led USAID and USDA to conduct a study of the Consumption Effects of Agricultural Policies (CEAP). Research has been directed at the measurement of consumption changes through the estimation of the relationships which link agricultural policies to their consumption and nutritional outcomes. These estimates are derived from several common sources of data, most importantly: national household income and expenditure surveys, household and individual food consumption surveys, and nutritional status surveys. Other sources, such as food balance sheets and demographic statistics, are primarily useful as secondary or corroborating evidence. Experience with consumption studies has indicated that policy analysis can be made more useful with both additional types of data and with improvements in the existing sources of data. Household budget and consumption surveys can be improved by ensuring that the household data are sufficiently disaggregated by income and other socioeconomic groups, and that the expenditure data are sufficiently disaggregated by commodity type. To capture seasonal variations, surveys should be conducted over a period of one year. Food quantities and/or food prices are also essential for consumption analysis. In addition, consumption analysis should more strongly emphasize individual dietary intake data, and should more frequently include anthropometric surveys and other indicators of nutritional status.