Food Intake and the Role of Food Self-Provisioning

This paper investigates the role of food self-provisioning for the intake of macro- and micronutrients of households in Mongolia. Our analysis is based on rich household survey data that collected food consumption through consumption diaries. We analyze nutritional outcomes within and across the three prevalent Mongolian livelihoods that derive food from different sources: urban wave employees, rural households with small herds, and pastoralists with large herds. Results show that food consumption patterns differ strongly across the three livelihoods, with herding households having a better nutrition situation. Moreover, food self-provisioning significantly affects dietary quality and quantity. Farming food crops improves the nutrient intake of small herders. In contrast, the provision of food through animal husbandry activities has ambivalent effects on households’ diet. It increases the intake of calories and nutrients from animal sources, while it decreases the intake of carbohydrates and nutrients from vegetal sources. This finding suggests household-specific market failures due to remoteness exist. Last, exposure to a severe weather event did not negatively affect households’ energy intake, but it reduces the intake of nutrient from animal sources.