Behavioral Drivers of Food Choice in Eastern India
Abstract
The proposed project aims to develop a context- and culture-specific framework to understand the behavioral drivers of food choice of a target population of urban and rural households in lower to middle socioeconomic classes in eastern India (West Bengal and Odisha). The framework is applied to the eastern Indian context through expert elicitation and further refined through consumer surveys to obtain detailed information on current food choice and awareness of, attitudes toward, and demand for quality, nutritional, and health attributes of food and nutrition-sensitive interventions. We further develop an interactive tablet application and conduct behavioral experiments with the target population to elicit and study behavioral change in food choice in response to nutrition-sensitive information and interventions within the framework. The experiments are designed to reveal the impact of gendered decision-making on food choice, behavioral change, and nutritional outcomes within the household. Data generated by these novel tools then feed into a detailed ex ante impact assessment of nutrition-sensitive interventions on nutrition security and health of the poor in eastern India. Through this novel combination of approaches, the project intends to aid policymakers in designing segmented, nutrition-sensitive intervention strategies that are gender-appropriate and high-impact.
Lead Institution
- International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)
Collaborating Institution
- KIIT University, India
Principal Investigator(s)
- Matty Demont, PhD, Senior Economist, Market and Value Chain Research, International Rice Research Institute
Co-Investigator(s)
- Rosa Paula Cuevas, PhD, Scientist-Sensory Profiling, Grain Quality and Nutrition Center, International Rice Research Institute
- Arindam Samaddar, PhD, Agricultural Anthropologist, International Rice Research Institute
- Marie Claire Custodio, MBA, Senior Associate Scientist I, Market and Value Chain Research, International Rice Research Institute
- Jhoanne Ynion, MSc, Assistant Scientist, Market and Value Chain Research, International Rice Research Institute
- Suva Mohanty, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Marketing, Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), Gujrat, India
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Anindita Ray (Chakravarti), Assistant Professor, Department of Food & Nutrition, Maharani Kasiswari College, Calcutta University, Kolkata, India
Journal Publications
- Ynion J, Custodio MC, Samaddar A, Mohanty SK, Cuevas RP, Ray (Chakravarti) A, Demont M. (2021). “Survey data on heterogeneity in consumers’ food choice in eastern India.” Data in Brief, 36: 107148.
- Custodio MC, Ynion J, Samaddar A, Cuevas RP, Mohanty SK, Ray (Chakravarti) A, Demont M. (2021). “Unraveling heterogeneity of consumers’ food choice: Implications for nutrition interventions in eastern India.” Global Food Security, 28, 100497.
- (Book chapter) Cuevas RP, Custodio MC, Ynion J, Samaddar A & Demont M. (2020). “Gastronomic systems research.” Gastronomy and Food Science. Galanakis, C.M. & Wang. E., eds., Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Elsevier.
- Samaddar A, Cuevas RP, Custodio MC, Ynion J, Ray (Chakravarti) A, Mohanty SK, Demont M. (2020). “Capturing diversity and cultural drivers of food choice in Eastern India.” International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science, 22:100249.
- Custodio MC, Ynion J, Cuevas RP, Samaddar A, Ray (Chakravarti) A, Mohanty S, Demont M. (2020). “Expert elicitation database capturing diversity and cultural drivers of food choice and nutritional implications in eastern India.” Data in Brief, 33: 106330.
- Cuevas R, De Guia A, Demont M. (2017). “Developing a framework of gastronomic systems research to unravel drivers of food choice.” International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science, 9:88–99.
Posters & Presentations
- “How to capture and understand the diversity of food choices in a culture-specific context?” By Samaddar A, Ynion J, Custodio MC, Cuevas RP, Mohanty SK, Ray A, Demont M. 5th Agriculture, Nutrition & Health (ANH) Academy Week, June 30 – July 2, 2020. ([pdf])
- “The Who, What & When of food choice: Evidence from a consumer survey in eastern India” By Custodio MC, Ynion J, Samaddar A, Cuevas RP, Mohanty SK, Ray A, Demont M. 5th Agriculture, Nutrition & Health (ANH) Academy Week, June 30 – July 2, 2020.
- “Feeding future cities through nutrition-sensitive food value chains.” By Demont M. Urban-Rural Systems: Emerging Research at the Interface of Urbanisation and Agriculture. Contributed Event at Fifth International Rice Congress, Singapore, 14–17 October 2018.
- “Drivers of food choice for improved nutrition in Eastern India.” By Custodio MC, Demont M, Cuevas RP, Ynion J, Samaddar A, Mohanty SK. Fifth International Rice Congress, Singapore, 14–17 October 2018.
- “Contextualising food choice in the gastronomic system through expert elicitation.” By Samaddar A, Cuevas RP, Custodio MC, Ynion J, Mohanty SK, Demont M. Fifth International Rice Congress, Singapore, 14–17 October 2018.
- “Understanding systemic drivers of food choice to identify entry points for nutrition-sensitive interventions in eastern India.” By Cuevas, R.P., Custodio, M.C., Ynion, J., Samaddar, A., Mohanty, S.K. & Demont, M. Third Annual Agriculture, Nutrition and Health (ANH) Academy Week, Accra, Ghana, 25–29 June 2018.
- “Improving Nutrition through Gastronomic Systems Research.” By Demont M. Invited Plenary Lecture, FAO Regional Symposium on Sustainable Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Improved Nutrition in Asia and the Pacific, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Bangkok, Thailand, 10–11 November 2017.
Briefs
Research Brief
- Demont M, Custodio MC, Ynion J, Samaddar A, Cuevas RP, Ray A, Mohanty S. (2020). “Behavioral Drivers of Food Choice in Eastern India.”
Policy Brief
- Meah, N. (2020). Creating Sustainable Value Chains for Transforming Food Systems. South Asia, IRRI.
Other
Open Access Data
Webinar Presentation
- “Changing values and food choice: implications for demand creation in LMIC” By Christine Blake, Valerie Flax, Matty Demont, & Salome Bukachi.
Press Releases
- “IRRI encourages India to eat healthier food choices.” FOODevolution, 8 December 2018.
- “Nudging Indian households towards healthier food choices.” IRRI News, 3 December 2018.
Blogs
- DFC blog from Krystal Rampalli, Matty Demont, and Claire Custodio.
Other
- Expert elicitation workshops including presentation of preliminary results. By Demont, M. Bhubaneswar, Orissa and Kolkata, West Bengal. July 18 and 21, 2017.
- Application: Food Choice Application (FCA): digital interface for capturing food choice in eastern India
- Demont M., Custodio, M.C., Ynion, J., Samaddar, A., Cuevas, R., Ray (Chakravarti), A. & Mohanty, S.K. 2019. “What affects households’ food choice in West Bengal?” Geography and You, 19(24):26–30.