This report traces the impacts of USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit outlays on the rural and urban economies during the post-recession years 2009–14. The macroeconomic stimulus effects of the expenditures of SNAP benefit outlays generated larger economic impacts...

The paper presents a case for a phased rolling out of direct benefits transfer (DBT) for Food in India. By studying all states and Union Territories on three broad parameters: demographics, performance of the existing Public Distribution System (PDS), and current state of banking infrastructure,...

The Indian Government has identified a unique opportunity in using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based solutions to streamline its inefficient, ineffective, and expensive subsidy operations. By bringing all subsidies, mainly food and fertilizer subsidy, under the ICT platform,...

Food systems are expected to ensure food security and nutrition for a growing population. While food insecurity is more acute in developing countries, OECD countries are also affected. The current high-level of food prices could push more people into poverty and hunger. Governments have a role...

We study whether a sudden increase of the price of rice supplied by the Indian Public Distribution System in Andhra Pradesh, a large Indian state, had a negative impact on child nutrition. A few months after the price increase, a health survey started to record weight for a large sample of...

The global food price shock of 2006-2008 has particularly affected poorer strata of populations in several developing countries. In Egypt and some other countries it has put food subsidy schemes to the test. This paper develops two comparable computable general equilibrium models for Egypt and...

Strong rural-urban linkages are increasingly seen as key to achieving sustainable livelihoods and food security in developing countries. However, not all linkages are positive and, although this is recognised in literature, few explore their potential unfavourable characteristics. Based on...

This paper is an attempt to analyze the impact of two of India's largest food security interventions - the Public Distribution System (PDS) and the Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDM) - on poverty outcomes and on nutritional intake. This paper offers a simple methodology to take into account the impact of...

This paper develops a novel approach to the analysis of vulnerability in the context of food security. The proposed methodology incorporates recent developments in the analysis of risk management. It can be applied to estimate the probability that a household or a community might fall below a...