Food Consumption Expenditure in Farm Households: Evidence from West Bengal and Jharkhand

Abstract

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One of the fundamental human needs is food. This cannot be suspended and replaced with other substances. Food cannot be denied to human beings and it plays a major role in national development. It also plays a role in maintaining economic, social, and political stability. However, household food consumption expenditures in developing countries have received significant attention in recent years because of the fast economic growth and increasing trepidation about food consumption. The present study has shown that the importance of family income has been found to determine the cost of food and non-food. Increasing income has proven to increase food expenditure. On the contrary, the expenditure on non-food has shown a decreasing trend. With the increase in the number of residents, the change in the budgetary provision of food is particularly related with the number of dependents. Increase in number reduces budgetary cost of non-food expenditure but expenditure on food increases. For the improvement of food and nutritional security in rural West Bengal and Jharkhand, policy criteria should be linked to their income expenditure on adequate food for a healthy living. It is clearly connected to policy instruments that increase income, such as increase in farm production and productivity, and increase in non-farm and off-farm employment.

Keywords: Income, Food, Non-Food, Consumption Expenditure, West Bengal, Jharkhand

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