World Food Policy Volume 2, Number 1, Spring 2015 | Page 86

The Negative Side of the Agricultural–Nutrition Impact Pathways: A Literature Review

During the green revolution in
India, a policy package (fertilizer and
seed subsidies, infrastructures, price
support, etc.) led to a very large increase
in per capita wheat and rice production
between 1960 and 1990. That increase
in availability helped India escape the
famine that had marked the country up
to then. Be that as it may, the p revalence
of undernutrition among women and
children remained among the highest in
the world. One hypothesis, albeit difficult
to verify due to the multiplicity of causes
of malnutrition and wide disparities
between regions (Gillepsie and Kadiyala
2012), corresponds to the crop and food
specialization brought about by these
policies which were centered almost
exclusively on cereals. The case of legumes
is particularly striking: their availability
fell from 23 kg in 1961 to 12 kg/year/
inhabitant in 2003 (Dorin and Landy
2009). Likewise, for Southeast Asia, the
calorie supply rose from 2,050 to 2,250
kcal/person between 1970 and 1990,
while the iron density in food fell from
6.2 to 5.75 mg/kcal and the prevalence of
anemia (iron deficit) in women rose from
57% to 73% over the same period (Welch
and Graham 1999). Francesco Burchi,
Jessica Fanzo, and Emile Frison (2011,
362) insist on that opinion “this push to
concentrate on a few staple crops may be
a contributory factor to the simplified
diets, the continued undernutrition in
South Asia and widespread hunger”. Even
Peter Hazell (2009, 12), who is a strong
supporter of the green revolution, admits
“However, since deficiencies in iron and
the B vitamins are common amongst
the poor the increase in micronutrientrich foods must not always have been
high enough to offset the decline from

cereals” consumption that has followed
the green revolution. Finally, the
availability of other foodstuffs (animal
products, fats, fruits, and vegetables)
remained well below world averages and
their consumption was very unequally
distributed (Dorin and Landy 2009).

Sometimes the development
of commercial products may go hand
in hand with: (i) a change in natural
ecosystems, the disappearance of wild
species—an integral part of local diets
and (ii) a reduction in resources devoted
to subsistence crops (Fleuret and Fleuret
1980). Such changes lead to simplification
of diets and risks of micronutrient
deficiencies. The promotion of maize
in Mali was associated with cotton
supported by development companies
though the distribution of maize seeds,
promotion of cereal crop standards,
in order to secure the food supply of
cotton farmers. It is thus possible to
cover the calorie requirements of certain
households (not all), but it has also led
to more monotonous diets than in other
regions, along with a risk of deficiencies
and chronic malnutrition (Dury and
Bocoum 2012).

The introduction of improved
varieties can lead, though not always,
to a simplification of cropping systems
(Bellon and Hellin 2011) and diets (Johns
and Eyzaguirre 2007). The substitution
and reduction in the number of
accessible traditional varieties may also
be accompanied by an erosion of the
variety of recipes and dishes consumed.
An example involving the industrial
white-fleshed banana, which has
replaced a local, orange-fleshed banana
rich in carotenoids, has been described
in Micronesia (Englberger 2003).
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