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THE IMPACTS OF HOUSEHOLD HEAD’S EDUCATION ON FAMILY FOOD

CONSUMPTION IN NEPAL
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................4
Background information..........................................................................................................................4
Relationship between household head education, food consumption and food security...................4
Nutrition education.............................................................................................................................8
Low nutrition consumption in Nepal.................................................................................................12
Nutrition transition in Nepal..............................................................................................................14
Current status of food security in Nepal............................................................................................17
Economic strategies for acquiring healthy diets on less budget........................................................18
Food security policy...............................................................................................................................19
Statement of the problem.....................................................................................................................21
Objectives..............................................................................................................................................21
Research questions................................................................................................................................22
Significance of the research...................................................................................................................22
LITERATURE REVIEW..................................................................................................................................23
Food consumption in Nepalese households..........................................................................................23
Consumption.....................................................................................................................................23
Education...........................................................................................................................................25
Housing and household facilities.......................................................................................................26
Demography......................................................................................................................................28
Food security status in Nepal................................................................................................................28
Issues and causes of food insecurity in Nepal....................................................................................30
Current status of food security in Nepal................................................................................................35
COVID-19 and food security in Nepal....................................................................................................36
Education status in Nepal households...................................................................................................38
Impact of Education on Malnutrition....................................................................................................41
Other important impacts of education..............................................................................................46
Female household status in access to food and nutrition.................................................................47
FRAMEWORK OF STUDY........................................................................................................................50
The theoretical perspective of food choice and education................................................................50
Empirical literature................................................................................................................................51
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND ANALYSIS...............................................................................................54
Descriptive Statistics..............................................................................................................................54
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Regression Results.................................................................................................................................60
Recommendations.....................................................................................................................................64
Ethical implications....................................................................................................................................66
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................67
References.................................................................................................................................................70
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INTRODUCTION
Background information
Relationship between household head education, food consumption and food security
In Nepal, the relationship between household head education, food consumption, and food

security is complex and multifaceted. On one hand, higher levels of household education are

often associated with increased food consumption and improved food security. Households with

educated members may have access to more information about proper nutrition and may be able

to make more informed decisions about what types of food to purchase and prepare. They may

also have more resources, such as money or land, to allocate towards food production or

acquisition. On the other hand, food insecurity and malnutrition can also impact educational

outcomes. Children who are malnourished may have difficulty learning and may struggle in

school. This can lead to a vicious cycle in which food insecurity and malnutrition limit

educational opportunities, which in turn may further hinder household food security and

consumption in the long run.

There are also many other factors that can affect household food security and consumption in

Nepal, such as access to resources (e.g. land, water, financial capital), natural disasters, and

social and economic policies. There are several ways in which household education can impact

food security in Nepal. For example:

a) Improved knowledge and skills: Higher levels of education can provide households with

the knowledge and skills needed to make informed decisions about food production and

consumption. Educated households may be better equipped to grow their own food or to

purchase and prepare nutritious meals.

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b) Increased income: Higher levels of education are often associated with higher income,

which can give households more resources to allocate towards food. Educated households

may be able to afford a more diverse and nutritious diet.

c) Increased access to resources: Households with educated members may have better

access to resources such as land, water, and financial capital, which can be used to

produce or purchase food.

d) Improved decision-making: Educated households may be more likely to make informed

decisions about food, such as choosing to purchase locally-grown or organic produce, or

investing in food storage and preservation technologies.

In addition to the ways in which household education can impact food security in Nepal, there

are also several ways in which food security and consumption can impact household education.

For example:

a) Malnutrition and poor health: Children who are malnourished or who suffer from poor

health due to inadequate food intake may struggle in school and have difficulty learning.

This can hinder their educational outcomes and limit their future opportunities.

b) Time and resources: Households that struggle to secure sufficient food may need to

devote a significant amount of time and resources to acquiring food, leaving less time and

resources available for education.

c) Psychological stress: Food insecurity can be a source of psychological stress for

households, which can impact children's ability to focus and learn.

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Overall, the relationship between household education, food consumption, and food security in

Nepal is complex and multifaceted. Improving food security and increasing household education

are both important for addressing poverty and promoting long-term development in Nepal.

Male and female household heads education on food consumption and security in Nepalese households
There is evidence to suggest that education can have a significant impact on food consumption

and security in Nepalese households. Studies have shown that households with educated heads

tend to have better food security and nutrition outcomes than those with less educated heads. For

example, research has found that education can influence the types of food households purchase

and consume. Educated individuals may be more aware of the health benefits and nutritional

value of different food types and may be more likely to make healthier food choices. They may

also be abler to afford higher-quality and more expensive food items.

Studies have also shown that education can impact household resources, including food

management and utilization. Educated individuals may be more likely to engage in budgeting

and meal planning practices, which can help ensure that households have sufficient food and that

resources are used efficiently. It's worth noting that the effects of education on food consumption

and security in Nepalese households may differ between male and female household heads. In

some cases, studies have found that female-headed households have better food security and

nutrition outcomes than male-headed households. This may be because women tend to be more

involved in household decision-making and resource management and may be more likely to

prioritize the well-being of their families.

The effects of education on food consumption and security in Nepalese households are likely to

be complex and multifaceted. They may vary depending on the specific context and

characteristics of the household. However, it seems clear that education can play an important
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role in improving food security and nutrition in Nepal. It's also worth considering the potential

mechanisms through which education may influence food consumption and security in Nepalese

households. One potential mechanism is through increased income-earning capacity. Educated

individuals may be more likely to secure higher-paying jobs or start their own businesses,

leading to increased household income and improved food security.

Another potential mechanism is increased access to information and resources. Educated

individuals may be more likely to seek out and use information about healthy eating and food

security. They may be better able to access resources such as credit or loans to purchase food or

invest in agriculture. Finally, education may also influence food consumption and security

through its impact on individual and household behaviors and practices. Educated individuals

may be more likely to adopt healthy behaviors and practices, such as regular physical activity,

which can improve nutrition and health outcomes. They may also be more likely to participate in

community organizations or engage in advocacy around food security issues, which can help to

improve food security and nutrition at the community level.

It's also worth considering how education may interact with other factors influencing food

consumption and security in Nepalese households. For example, education may interact with

income to influence food security outcomes. Households with both educated heads and higher

incomes may be better able to afford a greater variety of food items and purchase higher-quality

and more expensive options. Education may also interact with factors such as gender, age, and

location, to influence food security outcomes. For example, research has shown that female-

headed households and households with elderly members may be more vulnerable to food

insecurity and that households in rural or isolated areas may face particular challenges in
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accessing food. Educated individuals within these households may better overcome these

challenges and improve food security outcomes.

Finally, education may interact with cultural and social norms to influence food security

outcomes. For example, education may influence the types of food households choose to

purchase and consume and may also influence the roles and responsibilities of different

household members concerning food procurement and preparation.

Nutrition education
Nutritional issues can be broadly divided into two categories: those caused by excessive and

imbalanced consumption of food or a specific dietary component and those caused by

insufficient intake compared to nutritional demands (Dhandevi & Jeewon, 2015). The first group

is primarily affected by issues in Africa and other emerging nations. Providing people in urban

and rural regions with the information, resources, and motivation they need to make healthy food

choices should be a primary objective of nutrition education. To offer nutritious diets and better

care for the most vulnerable populations, this education must focus on increasing household food

security and maximizing the utilization of food and financial resources. As illnesses of affluence

become more prevalent, persons in more affluent parts of society would benefit from nutrition

education that emphasizes making healthy food choices, eating in moderation, and leading a

more active lifestyle.

At least three components, targeted at different social groups, should be included in nutrition

education programs.

Raising consciousness about the importance of good nutrition among the general population and

decision-makers. Food security, nutritional disorders, the benefits of food labeling and

legislation, the link between diet and health, the relationship between nutritional status and
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individual productivity and national development, the nutritional needs of the population and

individuals, and so on are all topics that can be used to educate the public. Encouraging people to

choose healthy food and lifestyle decisions (Kris-Etherton et al., 2014). One way to achieve this

goal is through teaching people about food's nutritional composition and the benefits of eating a

balanced diet, how to choose and buy food wisely from the resources at hand, how to prepare

and handle food hygienically, how to store, process, and preserve food, and how to distribute

food fairly within households following the dietary requirements of the family members.

Elevating family meal availability and diversity. It is important to inform the public about

methods to boost food production, including selecting and diversifying crops, preserving

nutrients during food preparation, and storing and processing foods properly.

Each of these components helps improve nutrition in its special way. Workers in Africa's

agriculture, education, and health sectors need to be educated and trained in all three aspects of

nutrition. Those most directly impacted by food and nutrition inequalities should have a say in

determining which concerns should receive the most attention at the community level.

The National SHN Strategy was supported in 2006 by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of

Education in Nepal. Since endorsing the strategy, the Government of Nepal has been

implementing the SHN program across the country with assistance from various humanitarian

organizations providing technical expertise and financial resources. The goal of the program is to

enhance the social, emotional, cognitive, and academic development of Nepali schoolchildren.

But the program activities have not been widely covered, and much of the help has only gone to

pupils in public schools. Also, many actors are just engaging in some activities.
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To make the SHN program better, it is crucial to collect evidence. To this end, in 2013, we

evaluated an SHN project run by JICA and the Nepali government in Sindhupalchok and

Syangja over four years. Checkups for physical and dental health were provided, including first

aid, deworming, iron supplementation, child club activities, special health classes, registration in

the SHN database, and midday meals for all participants. It also included installing toilets and

waste disposal pits in schools, cleaning schools, and increasing access to clean water and toilets.

Teachers at participating schools received instruction in leading SHN events. In comparison to

control schools, project schools provided much more health services, hygiene and sanitation

facilities, child club activities, and health education classes. In the long run, students' hygienic

behaviors improved due to increased access to hygiene and sanitation facilities, which was

correlated with better health.

Stakeholders' perspectives on the SHN program implementation process in low-income countries

like Nepal have not been studied. Therefore, our goal was to evaluate the SHN program

implementation process across the country as part of the SHN project evaluation. Because of

this, we could only include student feedback in our evaluation of the SHN project and not that of

any other stakeholders who had a significant role in making the SHN program a success. But

stakeholders at all levels can play important roles in the program's execution and success. Their

thoughts are crucial since they reveal the aspects that affect the implementation process and aid

in pinpointing the areas where improvement is needed.

Goal and purposes of nutrition education

People need to have a secure supply of food at home, as was covered in earlier chapters, to

consume an acceptable amount of food. People need to know how to cultivate their food, where

to shop, how to process it, how to cook it, how much to eat, and what to feed their families so
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that everyone is healthy and well-nourished. To accomplish this, one must thoroughly understand

what makes for a healthy diet and how current resources might be used to meet people's

nutritional requirements best. Low nutritional status can result from unhealthy eating habits and

nutrition-related activities, such as those founded on ignorance, cultural taboos, or a failure to

recognize the relationship between food and health (Yu et al., 2020). However, if enough

motivation is given, people can change their attitudes toward food and nutrition and enhance

their nutritional well-being by modifying their knowledge, habits, and diets.

Nutrition education is geared toward reinforcing particular practices or behaviors associated with

nutrition to alter norms that are detrimental to health. Inspiring people to make healthful eating

and nutrition decisions is key to achieving this goal. People are assisted in acquiring new

knowledge about nutrition and the attitudes, abilities, and self-assurance required to enhance

their dietary habits.

By teaching people about the nutrients in food and how to store, prepare, and enjoy it healthily,

nutrition programs help people achieve their dietary goals. Just spreading factual information

won't do much to improve people's diets. Rather than focusing solely on imparting information,

effective nutrition education inspires students to make positive changes in their own lives.

Growing and consuming more dark green, orange, and yellow fruits and vegetables have been

shown to lower the risk of contracting infectious diseases. Another way to improve nutrition is to

learn how to store maize and other foods so that nutrient loss is minimized and the amount of

food available to the family is maximized. Therefore, effective nutrition education programs

need to be designed and carried out to encourage beneficiaries to acquire the knowledge and self-

assurance needed to adopt healthy and long-lasting practices.

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People need to be aware of their nutritional issues and be willing to make changes for nutrition

education to be effective. Interprofessional cooperation and using several communication

strategies are essential components of successful nutrition education programs (in agriculture,

education, health, and communication). It has been demonstrated that, in addition to professional

help, Strong political and government support, external funding, and the building of local

administrative and community capacities are necessary for the success of any program.

Programs for nutrition education won't be effective when there are serious resource limitations. It

would be unethical, for instance, to encourage people to plant gardens in their homes if there is

no way to provide them with water. To a similar extent, it would be unjust to insist that a woman

who lacks high-energy foods feed her excessive infant amounts of such foods.

Low nutrition consumption in Nepal

Complex nutritional problems severely impact people who are already at risk in society. Nepal is

a developing nation, and the country's ongoing poverty is a significant contributor to poor

nutrition. Nutritional problems for women and children result from poor diet, inadequate

education, low status, poor hygiene, a lack of food security, and inadequate newborn feeding

(Biehl et al.,2016). The Nepal National Plan of Action on Nutrition, 2007 (NPAN'07) serves as a

cornerstone for the Nutrition Assessment and Gap Analysis (NAGA). With UNICEF's financial

and technical assistance, a team of top nutritionists and public health specialists from Nepal

created this document. NPAN'07 is a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the nutrition

situation in Nepal at the time and the efforts done to improve it.

According to the NPAN'07, the nation must address six significant nutrition-related problems

immediately since they have serious adverse effects on the population's health and development

(Pries et al., 2019). Some examples include an alarmingly high rate of infants born with low birth
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weight; widespread childhood undernutrition; persistent maternal fatigue; widespread vitamin A

and iodine deficiency illnesses, and iron deficiency anemia. One explanation for

undernourishment is that it is "determined by persons' access to, and consumption of, food and

the presence or absence of disease conditions that impact food use." The supplied information

was organized using the well-known UNICEF nutrition framework, which describes the

immediate, underlying, and fundamental causes of undernutrition.

According to NPAN'07's authors, this model gives "due priority to the adequacy of food security

and environmental factors as underlying causes of malnutrition but points out that care practices

are equally or even more significant" in this context. Investments in improving food security,

health services, and a healthier environment are essential for preventing malnutrition and

promoting good nutrition, but they are insufficient to ensure successful outcomes. The most

crucial element of the underlying causes is the third one, "care for women and children."

Malnourished children and women; For kids to develop into healthy, strong adults, good

nutrition is essential. Children who eat well experience fewer illnesses and have more energy to

learn, play, and reach their full potential. Stunting is an irreversible disorder that stunts children's

physical and mental development due to chronic starvation; In Nepal, 27% of children are

underweight, 10% are extremely thin for their height, and 36% of children under five suffer from

malnutrition.

Heavy physical labor, poor nutrition understanding, and a lack of supplemental food

consumption during pregnancy and lactation are all factors that put women at risk for

malnutrition. In Nepal, half of the mothers consume an inadequate variety of foods in their diet,

11% of women aged 15 to 49 are under 145 cm short, and 17% are underweight (BMI less than

18.5)
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Poor nursing techniques; Breastfeeding is recommended for infants by the World Health

Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) during at least the first hour and

up to the first six months of life. Breastmilk is the best and safest food for infants since it

contains all the nutrients necessary for healthy development. In Nepal, only 66% of infants under

6 months old are exclusively breastfed, and only 55% of newborns are nursed within the first

hour of delivery. By the time they are two to three months old, 14% of babies are receiving

substitute milk.

Inadequate supplemental feeding of infants and toddlers; As a baby grows, frequent

breastfeeding needs to be accompanied by appropriate amounts of solid food to help the child

develop and stay healthy. Babies and toddlers in Nepal don't always receive nutritious

supplemental food: Only 1 in 5 toddlers aged 6 to 23 months was fed an egg the day before, and

13% of all children in Nepal do not consume enough animal protein in their diets; Just one-third

of kids aged 6-23 months had a fruit or vegetable high in Vitamin A the day before; While 71%

of infants and toddlers aged 6 to 23 months old receive at least the minimum number of meals,

just 36% receive a minimally acceptable diet. However, only 47% of 6-23 month-old children eat

meals with minimal essential nutritional diversity (at least four food groups).

Nutrition transition in Nepal

In 1993, Barry Popkin linked two historical transitions—demographic and epidemiological—to

variations in dietary and physical activity patterns, suggesting that they might cause or take place

simultaneously. This was the beginning of the Nutrition Transition theory. Since 1990, there

have been noticeable changes in Nepal's Nutrition Transition; urbanization has intensified

(Subedi et al.,2017). Urbanization was caused by the shift from agriculture to the provision of

services, which may have later resulted in higher incomes, etc. This happened simultaneously as
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eating patterns changed, and total energy intake rose. Computing staple foods like cereals, roots

and tubers, plant lipids, and sugar became the main sources of nutritional energy. An increase in

the percentage of energy from meals other than staples like fats and oils may be helpful for

undernourished people in general. It's possible that eating extra fat will harm your health.

Increased overweight and obesity, particularly in metropolitan women, resulting from increased

fat intake. After 1995, the frequency of nutrition-related NCDs rose. Rural women's increased fat

energy consumption, which was higher than the recommended amount, benefited from this

dietary shift, reducing the prevalence of underweight people. Additionally, longevity has grown,

and the prevalence of numerous infectious diseases has decreased. The diet is changing to

include more items that are high in energy, particularly more meat, fat, and sugar (Subedi et al.,

2016). Perhaps the rise of western fast food chains, local restaurants, and supermarkets has

contributed to the nutritional shift. Urban areas have seen a particularly sharp transition, with the

meat and fat industries supporting expansion. For instance, from 1970 to 2010, Nepal's animal

fat, meat, and butter consumption gradually grew.

As money rises and meat's nutritional value as a food increases, there is typically a large increase

in meat intake in nations undergoing a dietary transition. Given that Nepal's GDP per capita is

still below the threshold level needed to have a substantial impact on diet, which is still the norm

for least-developed nations according to global development metrics, this may represent a minor

divergence from what has previously happened elsewhere. Therefore, we can claim that

urbanization impacts rather than economic effects may have had a greater influence on dietary

changes in Nepal. Many of these developments are almost in line with the changes in bordering

nations (Subedi, 2018). The Nutrition Transition in Nepal appears to be mostly driven by

urbanization and real per capita income, although tourism has also been identified as a distinctive
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cause in this area. The number of fast food vendors in Nepal has increased along with the

number of tourists during the past forty years.

Tourism, advertising, and mass media may have impacted the changes in food patterns. These

factors affect Nepal's traditional diet, particularly in terms of increased energy, mostly through a

higher plant fat intake. However, it should be mentioned that Nepal's Terai and Mountain regions

can have diverse food customs. The primary changes in Nepal's Nutrition Transition correlate

with significant governmental adjustments during the 1990s. These include government

initiatives like the program to meet basic needs, the creation of a program to reduce poverty and

raise the income of the poor, trade liberalization, a tourism promotion board, and the

implementation of free-market economic principles. The Nepalese government advocated

importing sugar and edible oil as important tenets of the program to meet basic requirements.

The government supplied ration cards through the co-operative and national trading corporation,

which included sugar and cooking oil.

The public and private sectors also enhanced the domestic supply of these goods, which was

previously modest in Nepal. In Nepal, cereals are the primary source of nourishment for people.

In Nepal, the relative accessibility of basic meals has declined. Energy from plant fats has

essentially taken its place. More calories are now being consumed than are being burned by

people (Tsang et al., 2019). Increased adult dietary fat intake and childhood malnutrition have

been linked to later-life increases in overweight/obesity and other NCDs. Perhaps the number of

years lost in Nepal owing to early mortality has been rising for NCDs while falling for infectious

diseases. These patterns reflect worldwide nutritional shifts due to rising urbanization,

supermarkets' internationalization, and the expansion of local providers' expansions. Early

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preventative efforts with shared responsibilities from the government and international health

organizations may be necessary to stop these predicted degenerative disease trends in Nepal.

Current status of food security in Nepal

These days, Nepal has fewer people struggling with food shortages than it had even a few years

ago. Twenty percent of households have very mild food insecurity, twenty-two percent have

moderate food insecurity, and ten percent have severe food insecurity; as reported by the NDHS

(2016), Nepal could provide for its own food grain needs. Currently, Nepal must import billions

of kg of food annually. In the 1960s, Nepal's cereal output rate was among the highest in South

Asian countries, 198% greater than that of Bangladesh and 212% higher than Sri Lanka's. But as

of yesterday, everything was very different. Nowadays, the average crop harvest in Nepal is less

than that of its South Asian neighbors (Tamang et al., 2014). Malnutrition, the worst

consequence of food insecurity, has far-reaching unfavorable repercussions on health and the

economy. Over the past few decades, national surveys have repeatedly shown that significant

levels of child undernutrition plague the nation.

In 2014, Nepal conducted a Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, 11.3% of Nepali children under

the age of five were too thin or wasted, and 37.4% were too short or stunted, illustrating the

severity of both chronic and acute undernutrition. The districts of Dhading, Gorkha, Kalikot,

Mugu, Humla, and Bajura have all been designated as "very food insecure" by the World Food

Programme and the Ministry of Agricultural Development. The Nepal Food Security Bulletin

states that "external support" is needed to supply the country with food and other necessities.

People with larger-than-usual food consumption gaps are statistically indistinguishable from

those who are severely food insecure. "Accelerated depletion of livelihood assets" is the only

way for these folks to meet their nutritional needs. There is some evidence that a person's level of
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food security is affected by their family size, gender, age, and level of education, as well as their

access to resources like land, money, remittances, and transportation infrastructure (Regmi et al.,

2019).

Nepal is dedicated to participating in the global Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 due to

the MDGs' significant insights and good results. By 2030, SDG 2 aims to have doubled

agricultural productivity, ensured sustainable food production systems, and maintained the

genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants, and livestock on a national, regional, and global

scale. It also aims to eradicate hunger and ensure everyone has access to safe, nutritious, and

sufficient food all year round. According to Nepal's constitution, everyone has the right to

adequate nutrition (Singh & Ram, 2014). Goal 2 of the Sustainable Development Agenda calls

for a 3% reduction in undernourishment and a 5% decrease in the prevalence of underweight

children under five by 2030. A measure of income inequality called the Gini coefficient was

0.328 in 2010—a slight improvement from 0.34 in 2004—but has been progressively worsening

and is currently at 0.49. (NPC, 2017).

Economic strategies for acquiring healthy diets on less budget

In low-income urban and rural areas, more than 23 million Americans, including 6.5 million

children, live in areas where the closest store is more than one mile away. Because of the scarcity

of reasonably priced, nutritious options, these regions are often called "food deserts." Many kids

may not consume the required amounts of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, which can partly

be attributed to access issues. Children frequently experience hunger and food insecurity. In

2008, the USDA projected that 49 million individuals, including 17 million children, lived in

food-insecure homes (Daniel, 2016). Let's Go! to ensure that all families can find healthy, low-

cost food close to home.

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More attention should be paid to extending dietary knowledge and developing economic

solutions that make a healthy diet more accessible to people on a tighter budget, specifically in

the case of Brazil (Evans et al., 2015). Due to the price of nutrient-dense food, it may be difficult

to maintain a balanced diet that includes fruits and vegetables when you're on a limited budget.

We must concentrate on expanding access to nutritious and reasonably priced foods in the battle

against childhood and adolescent obesity. Here are some methods for ensuring that people have

access to cheap, wholesome food options through initiatives like the ones listed below:

a) Initiate a Food Policy Council

b) Raise SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) participation rates (SNAP)

c) Offer incentives and promote the creation of farmers' markets to boost the local food

economy in the neighborhood.

d) Advocate for laws that safeguard and encourage communal gardening.

e) If you want to improve the nutritional quality of food and drink sold in stores and sold

with tax dollars, you need to enact a policy.

f) Require that places of public gathering provide free, potable water.

g) Realign bus lines, provide free shuttles, or find another way to make sure people can go

to grocery stores and other places to get healthy and inexpensive food.

Food security policy

Food security refers to a state of safety in which people can obtain, prepare, and consume enough

nutritious food. Therefore, the main causes of food insecurity are the shortage of food, the

inability to obtain food, and the inefficiency with which it is used. This means that the elements

that govern each facet of food security are implicitly included in the determinants of food

security in the home. Food security factors vary depending on the degree of analysis, from the
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global to the national to the regional to the household to the individual (Khan et al., 2012). There

is a robust connection between economic status, access to food, and health outcomes. It can be

difficult for low-income families to buy and prepare enough food to support a healthy, active

lifestyle. Nepal's per capita GDP (PPP) of $1,200 places it at #206 out of 227 nations in 2010.

Twenty-five percent of Nepalese citizens are poor, according to the third Nepal Living Standard

Survey. It's usually believed that people in areas of Nepal with high food insecurity also tend to

produce and consume less of their food than people in less impoverished places. Households in

locations with higher levels of food security tend to buy more food, and a wider variety of food,

than those in areas with lower levels of food security. Improved market access, both in terms of

transportation and purchasing power, makes it easier for households to buy food (NPC, 2013).

Some tools for alleviating poverty and food insecurity have been developed by the Government

of Nepal (GoN). The inclusion of traditionally excluded groups in political agendas and access-

related legislation developed in the 1970s.

To aid small-scale farmers, the government of Nepal introduced the Agricultural Perspective

Plan (APP) at the beginning of the ninth five-year plan. In addition, the GoN has subsidized

transportation costs since the 1980s to provide food to individuals in food-deficit areas. The

Government of Nepal accepted the food and nutrition security agenda in the Ninth Plan to

achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets (1990-2015) established at the World

Food Summit in Rome in 1996. (1997-2002). The problem was met with a patchwork of small-

scale initiatives and activities. After the people's movement in 2006, efforts were made to include

food security discussions in regular plans.

Among the objectives for agriculture in the 2010–2011–2012 Three Year Plan were ensuring

food and nutrition security, increasing the competitiveness of the agricultural industry, reducing
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poverty by expanding employment and income-generating opportunities, and mitigating the

adverse effects of environmental variability and climate change. The goal of food and nutrition

security under the thirteenth plan (2013–2014 to 2015–2016) is to increase the supply of staple

foods by increasing agricultural and animal product output and to ensure the food security of

vulnerable areas and groups by increasing their access to food (NPC, 2014). Furthermore, the

people of Nepal should have legal control over their food supply, as stated in the 2015

Constitution.

Statement of the problem

Changes in food consumption behavior are associated with many factors like geographical area,

income, food availability in the food market system, etc.

Out of this, the education level of the household head is also a factor affecting food consumption.

We assume that with higher education, food preference changes, and it also impacts the income

level, which impacts food consumption.

Education is a prominent factor affecting food consumption, and research has been carried out

worldwide in Nepal's case.

We have found many pieces of literature and published papers on income and food consumption.

In much of the literature, education is found to solve undernutrition in developing countries.

Objectives
This Research study has the following two objectives,

1. To compare the effects of male and female household heads education on food

consumption and security.

2. To discuss the Mechanism behind these evident effects.

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Research questions
The three research topics listed below are the primary goals of this study:

1) What connection exists between adult (male and female) education levels, food

consumption, and family security in Nepal?

2) What may be the mechanism underlying the apparent influence on food consumption?

3) Does male education have a different impact on food consumption than female

education?

Significance of the research

A significance increase in the education of households is supposed to make a drastic change in

the food consumption pattern of the family.

Education level directly affects income and consumption habits as per person get changed.

This would ultimately change the food demand system from the household perspective.

In the study area, Nepali household is taken to provide significance to the policy makers for both

patterns.

In addition to this, this also provides significance importance to the food-producing industries of

Nepal to understand consumer behavior and factor affecting food consumption in the form of

specific foods.
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LITERATURE REVIEW
Food consumption in Nepalese households
This is the fourth Annual Household Survey that has been conducted. If it relied on other

periodic surveys like the Nepal Labour Force Surveys (NLSS) and the Nepal Living Standard

Surveys (NLSS), which are conducted at longer intervals, it would not be able to provide annual

estimates for some significant socio-economic variables. The survey's main objectives are to

estimate consumption by sex, urban/rural location, and consumption quintiles/deciles (Paudel,

2018). Although the Annual Household Survey primarily focuses on consumption and

employment circumstances, it also includes data on education, housing, housing amenities, and

demographics. This year's NLSS poll differs from previous yearly household surveys since it

does not collect data on participants' employment status.

Consumption
In 2015-2016, Nepali families spent an average of Rs. 3,22,730 years on goods and services.

More than half of this total was spent on food; the rest was split among rent (12.9%), durables

(5.5%), education (4.0%), alcoholic beverages and tobacco (3.9%), and utilities (2.2%); the

remaining 17.8% was spent on nonfood items. The typical annual household expenditure had

increased by Rs 30,418 from the previous year when it was Rs 2,92,312.

In 2015-16, the average yearly expenditure of rural households was Rs. 4,31,337. Greater

consumption is typical in metropolitan areas, where the average urban household consumes

roughly 1.7% more than its rural counterpart.

As shown by the consumption quantiles, the top 20% of households spend an annual average of

Rs. 6,13,725; this is 4.2 times as much as the bottom 20% of households, who spend an annual

average of Rs. 1,46,395. In 2014-2015, this figure was only 3.9 to 1. It reflects a less equitable
 24

distribution of resources and highlights the growing gap between the wealthiest and the rest of

the population.

The average annual expenditure per Nepali is Rs. 70,680, with Rs. 1,01,659 in the cities and Rs.

52,207 in the countryside. It shows that, in terms of consumption per person, metropolitan

consumption is around twice as high as rural consumption. This urban-rural variation was largely

unchanged from 2014–2015.

Food costs Rs. 33,085 per person annually, whereas non-food costs Rs. 24,137. Spending on

grain and grains accounts for 32.1% of all food costs, followed by meat and fish (14.5%) and

vegetables (13.3%). Medical expenses (12.8%) and school funding (12.3%) account for the bulk

of non-food spending. Nonetheless, among all categories of nonfood, the intake of nonfood

(others) is by far the highest (64.2% of the total). Services in personal care, communication,

social and financial support, and housing expenses are included.

In 2015/16, the average Nepalese person consumed 6.7 kilograms (kg) of food, as determined by

the annual intake of a selection of staple foods. It's nearly identical in urban and rural areas. In

the survey year, Nepalis consumed an average of 92.8 kilograms of coarse rice, 38.5 kilograms

of fine rice, 29.4 kilograms of potatoes, 24.5 kilograms of wheat, and 21.8 kilograms of bananas.

In 2014/2015, Nepalese people ate 44.13 kilograms of fine rice each year on average, whereas

they ate 83.6 kilograms of coarse rice. These numbers have both increased this year.

There are differences between quintile groups in terms of the quantity of food consumed on

average. The top 20% of the population eats 8.1 kg daily, while the bottom 20% only eats 5.7 kg.

Additionally, fine rice consumption is increasing from the first to the fifth consumption group. In

the fifth quintile, Corse rice intake is observed to have abruptly decreased.
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Generally speaking, Nepali households do rather well in terms of food intake (65.2 on average).

Inadequate food consumption affects 16% of homes, whereas 9.7% of households have limited

dietary variety. Still, there remains a significant gap between the food security of urban and rural

residents: 10.1% of urban households are malnourished, whereas 20.1% of rural households are

undernourished. A poor diet is consumed by low-income households 12 times more often than

middle- and upper-class ones. This correlation between economic well-being and food security is

evaluated by quintiles and deciles of per capita consumption.

Education
65.1% of the population is over the age of 5 years old. The literacy rates for men and women are

respectively 74.2% and 58.2%. The population aged 6 and older has an estimated 66.8% literacy

rate, while the population aged 15 and above has an estimated 64.0% literacy rate. The literacy

rate had grown somewhat from 2014–15, when it was 65.6% for those aged 5 and over, 66.6%

for those aged 6 and over, and 63.7% for those aged 15 and over.

With 75.9% in urban areas and 59.7% in rural areas, the literacy gap between the two is

significant for those aged 5 and over. The disparity between urban and rural areas is now 16.2,

greater than in 2014–15 when it was just 13.7%. Similar widening differences between urban and

rural populations regarding literacy are seen in those aged 6 and older and those aged 15 and

older.

33.2 percent of the population was reportedly enrolled in school in 2015–16, 37.0 percent had

attended school in the past but were not currently enrolled, and 28.2 percent had never attended

school. Distinct variations exist according to sex, urban/rural area, and "never attended school"

population. While there were 28.2% of children in Nepal who never went to school, there were

around twice as many women as men (19.5% male and 36.2% female) and more rural people
 26

(24.1% rural and 11.9% urban) who never went to school. While only 5.4% of the 20% richest

persons in the world lacked formal education, 32.9% of the 20% poorest did.

In 2015–16, the primary level, lower secondary level, and secondary level each had a GER of

120.5%, 90.9%, and 86.2%, respectively. Primary school GER is 124.6 in cities and 118.4 in the

suburbs. Except for the secondary level, we observe a drop over time when comparing the most

recent GER with earlier surveys. In 2014-2015, GER was highest at the primary level (125), then

at the lower secondary level (91.6), and finally at the secondary level (78.1).

Housing and household facilities

At present, home ownership is recorded by 84.7% of all households. Among city dwellers, 71%

are homeowners, while 95% live in rural areas with their dwellings. In this survey, the

percentage of persons living in their own homes is lower than in 2014–15, when it was 87.2%.

Approximately 13% of households are now renting their homes. It's important to note that

households in the poorest quintile live in their own homes 98.4% of the time, while 28.7% of

households in the richest quintile group rent their homes. In the poorest quantile in 2014–15,

97.2% of residents were homeowners, compared to 25.0% in the richest quantile. There are

currently 4.4 rooms available for the average household in Nepal.

Nepalese homes typically have mud-bonded brick or stone exterior walls (376%) in rural areas

(compared to 20.4% in urban areas). It's important to note that between 2014–15 and 2015–16,

the percentage of cement-bonded brick/stone homes with an exterior wall climbed from 33.4% to

36.6.

The majority of homes in Nepal (40.9%) are built on mud-bonded foundations, which are also

more prevalent in rural areas (54.0% in rural areas) and households with lower incomes (53.8%

in the first decile group). Over a third of Nepali dwellings have roofs constructed of
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galvanized/corrugated iron sheets, whereas just over a fifth (22.6% of households) have concrete

roofs. Concrete roofing is more popular in metropolitan areas (48.9%) than in rural regions

(15.5%), likely due to the former's greater need for protection from natural disasters. It's

interesting to note that more people use concrete/cement roofs than a year ago and that the

poorest people have more. Only 22.3% of homes had concrete roofs in 2014–15; rural homes had

9.9%, and the poorest quantile had 4.4%.

Only 46.8% of the population (or people) are discovered to use piped drinking water. Most

houses (44,2%) have flush toilets connected to septic tanks. 18.7% of households lack safe toilets

as the nation moves closer to an "Open Defecation Free (ODF)" territory. 25.0% of rural and

9.8% of urban areas lack safe restrooms. 43.5 percent of the least fortunate quintile, 30.1 percent

of the second poorest, 20.1 percent of the third poorest, 12.0 percent of the fourth richest, and 1.1

percent of the wealthiest have no access to a toilet. It suggests a considerable correlation between

affluence and the availability of restrooms. The percentage of households without a toilet has

decreased from 22.0% in 2014–15, though. At the moment, 66.6% of homes do not have access

to sewage facilities.

In Nepal, 76.3% of families now use electricity for lighting, with 93.1% of urban households and

64.9% of rural households doing so. The percentage of homes using solar energy has also

increased, from 13.4% in 2015 to 10.3% in 2014-2015. Due to unique government subsidies

given to these populations, solar electricity is more prevalent in rural and lower-quintile

households. 2.5% of urban dwellers and 20.7% of the poorest quantile utilize solar power.

In Nepal, firewood continues to be a common source of cooking fuel, as demonstrated by the

usage rate of 60.9%. It's interesting to see that LPG gas usage is down from last year but

electricity use is up in cities. In urban areas, the percentages of those using LPG gas and those
 28

using electricity have flipped from 58.3% for LPG gas and 33.0% for electricity in 2014/15 to

53.3% and 37.9%, respectively, in 2015/16.

Currently, 85.8% of families in Nepal use a mobile phone, especially in urban areas (93.3%) and

rural areas (80.8%). 7.5% of people use line phones. 37.9% of homes utilize cable television.

Even though emails and the internet are the simplest forms of communication for obtaining

information globally, only 11.9% of households—19.8% of urban households and 6.4% of rural

ones—currently use the internet.

Demography
As a whole, Nepali families consist of 4.6 persons, with the urban average being 4.2 and the rural

average being 4.8. Only one in every seventeen families in Nepal consists of only two (family

size: 1-2). Nearly half of all family breadwinners (47.2%) are between the ages of 30 and 49,

with 25.9% of all households being led by women due to the high rate of male labor mobility.

Males make up 48.4% of Nepal's population, while females make up 51.6%. About 58.8% of the

population between the ages of 15 and 59 is considered to be in the productive age group. Nepal

has a 94-sex ratio, the same in urban and rural areas. At the moment, Nepal has a dependency

ratio of 70, meaning that there are roughly 70 people dependent on the working-age population.

Each year, the dependency ratio in Nepal declines. The dependency ratio was over 72 last year.

Food security status in Nepal

International organizations and researchers approach the multidimensional character of food

security in various ways based on their circumstances and interests. Historically, research into

food security has focused on food availability, with food sufficiency at home serving as a

standard (Adhikari, 2010). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United

Nations (FAO, 1996), food security is the condition in which everyone always has access to a
 29

sufficient supply of nourishing food that enables them to live an active and healthy lifestyle

independent of environmental factors. According to this concept, food security entails four

interrelated aspects: access, utilization, availability, and stability. These four factors work well

together as a technique for analyzing food security.

When considering food security and subsistence in Nepal, it is important to consider the

country's cultural and religious diversity and geographical location. Food insecurity is generally

more common in rural Nepal, particularly in isolated, low-productivity areas where rain-fed

subsistence agriculture is more prominent. The Ministry of Health reports that 1 in 5 people in

rural areas and 1 in 10 people in urban areas are severely food insecure (2017). Compared to the

terai regions, the prevalence of food insecurity seems higher in mountainous and hilly areas

(14% and 9%, respectively) when all three regions are compared. Low agricultural productivity,

restricted livelihood possibilities, and limited market connection due to poor infrastructure, as

well as geographical heterogeneity, gender inequality, and caste inequality, are blamed for

Nepal's food insecurity and undernutrition crisis (MoALD et al., 2018).

With a score of 0.574 on the Human Development Index (HDI), Nepal is one of the low-

income nations in the world, coming in at 148th place out of 189. (WFP, 2019). The country's

vulnerability causes food insecurity to natural calamities, including drought, earthquakes,

landslides, civil upheaval, endemic diseases like dengue and COVID-19, and pandemic diseases

like COVID-19. Food insecurity and malnutrition are still widespread in the United States, as

reported by the Zero Hunger Strategic Review (ZHSR) for 2017–18. Extremely high

malnutrition rates persist in Nepal, particularly among children, adolescents, and pregnant

women. Nepal has set a goal to graduate from the LDC list by the year 2022, which is a step in

the right direction toward development. The government of Nepal passed the "Right to Food Act,
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2018" that year. It recognizes food as a basic human need and is a major step toward ending

hunger, poor nutrition, and food insecurity in Nepal.

The Constitution of Nepal, adopted in 2015, defines Nepal as a federal democratic republic with

separate federal, state, and municipal governments. After that, the state is split into seven

provinces, each further subdivided into seven districts. The country's new structure also impacts

efforts to guarantee food production and availability, improve all groups of people's livelihoods

and employment, and improve access to food, nutrition education, and health care. More

efficient use of food, more readily available water, and guaranteed health status are all essential

for a balanced diet. Similarly, women and indigenous people, which have been historically

oppressed, need to be given more agency to achieve social security, equitable distribution of food

resources, and higher agricultural output. More ambitious targets for ensuring food security in

signatory countries like Nepal can be found in the SDGs, which succeeded the MDGs (LWF,

2017)

Issues and causes of food insecurity in Nepal

Most development metrics in Nepal continue to show significant regional, sub-regional, and

urban vs. rural disparities. Malnutrition is the most severe effect of food insecurity. Malnutrition

in adults lowers the labor market and agricultural production (Gartaula et al., 2017). Fetal

malnutrition is also brought on by undernourished mothers who will give birth to malnourished

children. Losses in adult productivity are a leading cause of childhood malnutrition. These losses

might result from parents not working or staying home with their kids as much as they should or

students not doing their best in class. Attempts to attain food security may also have a substantial

financial impact if people are required to spend the bulk of their income on food purchases. The

prevalence of food insecurity is likely a sign of heightened sensitivity to various consequences,

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including child psychological dysfunction, socio-familial challenges, and general household ill

health. Poor hygiene is the silent adversary of infectious diseases and malnutrition among the

native population. Hidden hunger is a different sort that is typically more complex and difficult

to treat with simple solutions. Usually, structural adjustment and macroeconomic alignment

processes are what set it off.

Long-term, these economic processes steadily reduce emerging nation-states' capacity to contest

the predominance of macroeconomic reforms' unfavorable effects. Food security can only be

achieved if all four components are reliable and always available.

Food availability: Food accessibility is a prerequisite for food security. Food is physically

present through home production, commercial imports, and humanitarian help. Production, trade,

inventories, and transfers are considered when determining food availability.

Food accessibility: National and international food security do not ensure household food

security. Even while there may be an adequate supply of food on the market, not everyone with a

low income and limited purchasing power will necessarily have access to it (Shrestha & Thapa,

2020). The use of food properly is referred to as food usage. The accessibility or availability of

food cannot ensure food security. Food security requires that food is used biologically in a good

way.

Stability: Once the food is always available, accessible, and used without large fluctuations, food

security can be attained. Concerns concerning the stability of the conditions necessary to attain

all three of the aforementioned criteria of food security satisfactorily (FAO, 2019)

Impacts of natural disasters

Flash floods, landslides, and extremely heavy rains during the monsoon season force many

people each year from their homes in western Nepal and the Terai region. As of today, July 16,
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at least 101 fatalities have been confirmed, 53 people are still missing, 96 people have been

injured, and 616 families continue to be impacted. The more people got homeless, 300, the more

homes there were. Due to damaged road infrastructure, numerous villages are still cut off, and

severe weather has hampered relief efforts. The homes and land of thousands of people had been

gone (OHCHA, 2020). These catastrophes are directly related to food security and agricultural

production. Due to the prolonged drought and the delayed monsoon, rice was one of the crops

that suffered the most.

Impacts of armed conflict

Food shortages and population growth are incompatible. The lack of availability, high cost, and

widespread misuse make matters worse (they also rely on production, processing, transportation,

and storage). A dearth of workers in agricultural areas affects food production because of the

massive outflow of young people to other nations, most notably India (Upreti & Mueller-Boeker,

2010). Despite receiving remittances from emigrants, rural and out-of-the-way places saw little

money sent to them since it was kept in cities and used for pointless building projects. Because

of rebel accusations that they would not pay back bank loans and the destruction of bank records,

etc., as a result of the fighting, banks were reluctant to invest in high-risk areas such as distant

rural areas and places where a significant section of the population relied on agriculture.

The CPN (M) requested that only physically fit and young people join their ranks during the

struggle. As a result, many low-income families in rural areas had to leave their children out of

school and send them to find work outside of the community. This also severely impacted

manufacturing and logistics (Ghale et al., 2010).

Agriculture production
Sixty-eight percent of Nepalese people rely on agriculture for their income, and the sector

accounts for 34 percent of the GDP. However, Nepal has difficulty producing enough food for its
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people (USAID, 2020). Rising food costs directly impact food insecurity and poverty, making

agricultural development all the more crucial. It's commonly said that developing countries'

economies are "dual" or comprised of both an agricultural sector and a contemporary capitalist

sector. Fighting world hunger requires emerging countries to increase their food yield and

output. It has been hypothesized that conventional farming is less productive than its modern

counterpart (Dethier & Eenberger, 2012). However, there are many technical, institutional, and

policy hurdles that must be overcome before we can reach this destination, including but not

limited to: land markets; seed and input research; agricultural extension; credit; rural

infrastructure; market access; rural non-farm employment; trade policy; food price stabilization.

Agriculture generates food, revenue, and employment, making it a potential growth driver in

emerging nations with an agricultural economy and a potent instrument for eradicating poverty

in nations undergoing an economic transformation. After finishing the long-term Agricultural

Perspective plan, Nepal established the Agriculture Development Strategy (2015-2035), a road

map containing a ten-year action plan meant to steer the country's agriculture industry for the

next 20 years. Nepal's government is also making strides toward its stated food security and

agricultural advancement goals.

Food security and climate change

Climate change and food security are important challenges that must be addressed together. It is

in charge of several parts of the food chain as well as all facets of the food security of vulnerable

groups. Climate change has a huge impact on agriculture and food security, increasing existing

vulnerabilities from a local to a global level while also bringing new risks and issues. Immediate

action is required because the negative consequences of climate change could pose serious

challenges to food security, particularly to the lives and livelihoods of small-scale food producers
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and to the gradual realization of the right to food within the context of national food security.

Hunger affects all facets of food security and results from inadequate catastrophe preparedness

and reaction (FAO, 2019).

Governance
A lack of strong governance structures that promote effective decision-making, institutional

responsibility, openness, the rule of law, and non-discrimination, which facilitate access to food

and higher living standards, can negatively influence food security. In fragile nations with a high

prevalence of hunger, the problem is compounded by war, violence, and a lack of security.

Economic and production issues

Poverty and insufficient food supply have an impact on food insecurity. Inadequate social safety

nets, unequal distribution of productive resources, including land, water, credit, and knowledge,

and low salaries that leave low-income people, all contribute to low resource productivity.

Workers and the rural and urban poor with little disposable income. They also have a role in the

widespread unemployment and shortage of good jobs. Inadequate growth in agricultural output is

intrinsically linked to the state of the economy. Inadequate national and international investment

in the agricultural industry and rural infrastructure, particularly for small-scale food producers, is

the cause of low agricultural production. Global food insecurity may result from a lack of an

open, non-discriminatory, egalitarian, and transparent international trading system that supports

agricultural and rural development in developing countries. There is a severe lack of resources

for livestock production in Nepal's agricultural systems, and farmers still have limited access to

essential institutions, technologies, and inputs. Other impacts of climate change on farming

include soil erosion, increased variability in crop yields, and more severe weather events like

floods and droughts. The production climate has direct and indirect effects on biodiversity.
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Current status of food security in Nepal

The country of Nepal now has a more stable food supply. About 20% of families’ experience

very mild food insecurity, 22% experience moderate food insecurity, and 10% experience severe

food insecurity, as reported by the NDHS (2016), impacting 4.6 million people. In the 1980s,

Nepal did not import any food grains because it produced enough to meet domestic demand.

Present-day Nepal relies heavily on food imports to the tune of billions of tons. With a cereal

production that was 198% higher than Bangladesh's and 212% higher than Sri Lanka's, Nepal's

agricultural output was among the highest in South Asia in the 1960s. However, since yesterday,

everything has shifted dramatically. Average crop yields in Nepal are now lower than those of its

South Asian neighbors in rice, wheat, and maize (Shrestha, 2018). Malnutrition is the most

severe effect of food insecurity, and it has numerous negative effects on health and the economy.

Over the past few decades, national surveys have repeatedly shown that significant levels of

child undernutrition plague the nation.

Chronic and acute undernutrition are serious problems in Nepal, as evidenced by the fact that

37.4% of children under the age of five in Nepal were either too short or stunted, and 11.3%

were too thin or wasted, according to the Nepal Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2014 report.

Dhading, Gorkha, Kalikot, Mugu, Humla, and Bajura have been identified as "extremely food

insecure" by the World Food Program and the Ministry of Agricultural Development. To address

food and non-food demands, "external support" is needed, as stated in the Nepal Food Security

Bulletin. Those who have larger-than-average gaps in their food consumption are statistically

indistinguishable from those who are severely food insecure. Because of the "accelerated

depletion of livelihood assets," these people can buy enough food. Access to markets and roads,

land ownership, household income, remittances, and the size of one's family all appear to play a

role in one's sense of food security (Regmi et al., 2019).

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Nepal is dedicated to participating in the global Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 due to

the worthwhile experiences learned and good achievements attained from the MDGs. To end all

forms of malnutrition, double agricultural productivity, create sustainable food production

systems and protect the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants, and livestock on a local,

regional, and global level are the objectives of Goal 2 of the Sustainable Development Agenda. It

also aims to end world hunger by 2030. To eat is one of the most basic human needs, and the

constitution of Nepal guarantees that right. By 2030, SDG-2 aspires to cut the percentage of

undernourished people in the world to 3 percent and the percentage of underweight children

under the age of five to 5 percent. The Gini-coefficient, a measure of income inequality, has been

steadily increasing since 2004 when it stood at 0.34 and reached 0.49.

COVID-19 and food security in Nepal

The Government of Nepal (GoN) issued a nationwide lockdown beginning on March 24 due to

the new corona virus (COVID-19) spreading worldwide. Because of this directive, businesses

and schools were shut down, and individuals were urged to stay inside. The curfew has since

been prolonged until May 7. COVID-19 worsens food security since, during the lockdown, no

one can enter or leave buildings used for eating, producing, selling, or storing food. These

measures used to halt the spread of COVID-19 and reduce the disease's potentially devastating

economic and social repercussions in Nepal, are standard practice in many other nations.

Movement and activity limitations in Nepal may be making an already dire food security

situation worse. Still, they are consistent with the precautions used in most other countries and

are meant to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and buffer potentially severe economic and social

impacts in Nepal.
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Poultry, dairy, vegetable, and cattle production are thought to be the most affected agricultural

and livestock sectors. Due to this lockdown's effects on mobility, demand for goods has

sometimes been pushed down in metropolitan areas. Milk consumption has plummeted by 60%

due to poor market access and consumer fear. Sudurpaschim Province is considered deficient by

68 percent in stock of food and nonfood items. Most traders reported a low demand for food and

nonfood commodities due to this restriction. The demand for food and non-food items has fallen

this week compared to last week due to the lockout, which has caused many individuals to lose

their income and experience mobility issues.

The COVID-19 issue and lockdown have hindered the passage of trucks and other vehicles

carrying products, which has impacted the availability of transportation services and

commodities and has harmed food security (WFP, 2020). Although not evenly distributed across

the nation, Nepal's stock market is estimated to be three months old. If rice and other food

exports are repeatedly halted, it could threaten the nation's ability to provide for its population's

nutritional needs. Twenty-five thousand seven hundred seventy metric tons of food were brought

into Nepal from the major trading hubs of Biratnagar, Birgunj, Kakarbhitta, and Bhairawa.

However, regions like Humla, Bajura, Bajhang, Lamjung, Gorkha, and Dhading have limited

access to marketplaces with inadequate food supplies. The Humla district has received at least

one airlift from Karnali province, and the Mugu and Dolpa districts are scheduled to get more

shortly. Wage workers in the informal economy (such as those in construction, agriculture,

transport services, tourism porters, the garment industry, small traders, baby caretakers, and the

poor without caretakers) make up the "most affected households," as defined by MoFAGA.

Prices of vegetables have soared by 30–60% on average since the lockdown began in all mid-hill

districts, and there is a severe shortage (Shrestha & Thapa, 2020).

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The population of Nepal is quickly expanding. Nepal's agricultural sector cannot supply the

country's expanding food demand. The rapid increase in the human population is directly

responsible for the depletion of agricultural land and the consequent decrease in food production.

The poor production, distribution, access to food in remote areas, and income levels in Nepal

contribute to the country's pervasive food insecurity. All findings showed a high frequency of

chronic and acute insufficient nutrition, manifested as stunting and wasting among children

under five. Compared to urban regions, where acute food insecurity is 9%, the rate is 12% higher

in rural areas. A rise in food hunger has resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic's restrictions on

freedom of travel, which have led to the shutdown of all restaurants, factories, marketplaces, and

shopping centers. There is no single solution to the issue of food insecurity; rather, it will take a

variety of approaches, including a rise in the economy, more equitable distribution of resources,

and measures to combat poverty, including improved health education and more jobs. The means

to actively engage in political association and discourse are necessary for ending hunger and

food insecurity. Programs in the areas of research, extension, and capacity building need to shift

their attention to the poor and women. Improved food production, distribution, and accessibility

require the government's undivided attention on irrigation farming and the development of

transportation networks.

Education status in Nepal households

Education aims not just to teach students how to do something but to instill in them a body of

information, sound judgment, and developed wisdom. It is really about passing on one's heritage

to the next generation. Education is bringing forth a person's hidden abilities and potential.

Through education, we can gain a clearer perspective on the world. Significant contributions to

national progress can be attributed to it. Reading, writing, and arithmetic skills are part of

literacy, while education refers to systematically acquiring knowledge. However, education and
 39

literacy are interchangeable and mutually beneficial. Education is the bedrock upon which every

nation's prosperity can be built. The individual's contribution to society can be molded through

education. People with knowledge apply scientific technology to their local resources, but a lack

of education stunts personal and societal growth. The two concepts of education and literacy are

somewhat distinct in the broad sense yet remarkably similar in the specific.

Public schooling was legally instituted when the Rana regime was toppled in Nepal when the

country's educational condition was precarious at best. At the time, people were working toward

creating a unified public school system across the country. Even in the modern era, economics

and society imposed limitations on the possibilities for formal education. Women's education

was considered redundant because children needed help in the field and the home. In 1975, the

government of Nepal eliminated tuition fees for elementary schools and assumed full financial

responsibility for maintaining and supplying all public schools in the country. Elementary school

was required and lasted for five years, starting when children were six. Despite numerous efforts

and strategies dedicated to advancing education since 1950, only incremental improvements have

been realized. Even in the modern era, the elite mass continues to be at the front of academic

achievement. They can afford to send their children to boarding schools and exclusive public

universities. Thus these institutions are largely filled by them.

The trend toward treating schools more like businesses is gaining momentum as globalization

continues penetrating all corners of the globe. Education availability is a useful barometer of a

society's progress. Human resource development, or the process of enhancing the knowledge,

skill, and capabilities of all people in a country, can be aided through education. Investing in

people like this helps get us closer to our growth goals in all sorts of ways. While the

advancement of education is a desirable aim, it may not be easy to achieve due to societal factors
 40

such as economics and culture. The Tharu people are among Nepal's most marginalized,

oppressed, and impoverished. Economically, socially, and educationally, they are the most

disadvantaged group in the world. Several possible explanations exist for the lag in development.

Their economy is based largely on farming and raising cattle. They are unable to make full use of

available government resources. People in the "higher castes" take advantage of them. They are

severely limited in their ability to obtain basic services such as employment, education,

healthcare, etc.

The Tharus people, who make up only 5.6% of the country's population, are one of the most

disadvantaged groups in the country. Despite this, due to recent shifts in population composition,

they no longer reside in the woodland clearings as they once did. They still like locations that are

close to forests even now. They have populated the plains of the Terai from east to west, yet they

prefer to keep to themselves.

Nepal has a literacy rate of 54.1%, according to the 2001 population census. Among them, the

Tharu community has a very low literacy rate. Many parents choose not to send their kids to

school. The percentage of children who attend school is higher in primary grades than in

secondary and higher grades. Due to the high number of dropouts, very few students complete

their education. In Tharu society, uneven behavior between boys and girls is still present. The

greatest number of daughters are kept inside the home and employed as domestics. As a result,

fewer females than boys enroll in school, and fewer girls can finish their education. Even though

the Tharus are Terai's indigenous people, they lack advanced educational practices. In this

context, it is important to remember how challenging it is to ensure that all castes, ethnic groups,

and genders actively and equally participate in the country's growth.

 41

Impact of Education on Malnutrition

To determine the elements most responsible for the prevalence of childhood malnutrition, (Smith

and Haddad 2000a) conducted a study involving 63 developing nations from various parts of the

world. The year was 2000 (South Asia was also low at 23.8 percent, while the three other regions

were at 45 percent or above). Sub-Saharan Africa also has the lowest national GDP and dietary

energy supply (DES) per capita of any other region.

Smith and Haddad used multivariate analysis of national-level data to conclude that an increase

in female secondary education enrollment of 4.6% would reduce childhood malnutrition by 1%.

In contrast, a 1 percent reduction in childhood hunger would necessitate a 13.1 percent rise in

population with access to adequate water, a 4.9 percent increase in DES, or a 9.3 percent

improvement in the female-to-male life expectancy ratio. Expanding female enrolment and

educational reform may be less expensive and more practical than boosting access to potable

water and increasing the food supply. This makes this study noteworthy from a policy

perspective (though both are undoubtedly important undertakings as well).

E. Mukudi (2003) used country-level data and conducted a regression analysis of 42 African

nations for his study on the role of educational exposure in reducing childhood malnutrition.

Mukudi contends that parental education affects children's nutritional status directly and

indirectly. Directly, expanding educational exposure promotes better dietary wellbeing decisions

and boosts hygienic habits. Education indirectly lowers fertility rates and raises income. A

family's ability to provide greater food security and a larger caloric intake for each member is

impacted by increased income. Because there are fewer mouths to feed in smaller families,

where there are fewer people to feed, smaller families tend to have lower average household

sizes, which indirectly increases calorie intake per person.

 42

As determined by literacy rates, reduced family size had the greatest influence on lowering the

incidence of being underweight, according to Mukudi. In contrast, educational exposure was the

best predictor of the prevalence of wasting. Additionally, he discovered that adult literacy was

the best indicator of income and that household size is best predicted by household income. It

follows that improving a population's access to education (and hence literacy) causes income to

increase, which in turn causes household size to decrease. These elements work together to

improve the nutritional wellbeing of children in Africa. Mukudi concludes that total literacy

(among both sexes) significantly impacts nutritional status. The causes of childhood malnutrition

were identified in a study by Rikimaru et al. (1998) using individual-level data analysis on 170

children in Accra, Ghana (an African nation), ranging in age from 8 to 36 months. Their research

looks at youngsters considered healthy, underweight, and severely malnourished (61, 49, and 160

children, respectively). Although one might be able to apply the findings to rural African

children, the study concentrates on the risk factors for urban African children.

The researchers looked at the following factors: parental education and occupation, whether or

not the kid was born underweight, the mother's age, the duration of breastfeeding, and who was

each child's primary caregiver. According to the authors, the strongest predictors of childhood

malnutrition in Accra are the mother's education level and low birthweight factors. A lack of

female education puts children at risk of being born at a low weight and later experiencing

childhood malnutrition; they discovered a strong connection between moms' educational level

and the frequency of low birth weight babies. Therefore, they conclude, governments must work

to increase female education while encouraging initiatives to reduce the incidence of low birth

weight infants. Using a different method, Tucker and Young (1989) examined the connection

between maternal education and child nutrition.

 43

They developed an index termed "mother differentiation" to more precisely describe the

connection between maternal decision-making and education and the effects this has on

children's nutritional status. They found that this measure, which considered factors including

reading frequency, years of formal education, and involvement in crafts like sewing, had a better

capacity to predict childhood nutrition than mother education and income alone. Another study

by Smith and Haddad (2000) examines 63 developing nations from 1975 to 1996 using OLS

regression and an error components model. They found that the overall drop in childhood

malnutrition that these nations experienced throughout the study is explained by women's

education alone in 43% of the sample countries. Between 1990 and 1995, 84 percent of the

overall decline in childhood malnutrition was attributed to female education.

Smith and Haddad also found that, for developing countries, national wealth was crucial in

reducing malnutrition. Still, they assert that this association was not seen in sub-Saharan Africa

since there was a general fall in regional GDP from 1970 to 1995. They find that improvements

in health environments contributed 37.6 percent of the drop in malnutrition in sub-Saharan

Africa and that female education accounted for 61.5 percent of that decline. The decline in

women's relative position to males (as measured by the female life expectancy to male life

expectancy ratio) over the study period has had a detrimental effect on hunger.

It is challenging to determine whether individual socioeconomic status (income) is the true

explanatory variable because the most widely disseminated data are national literacy rates, which

is one alternative explanation for the association between childhood malnutrition and female

education. In other words, parents who send their kids to school may be better financially than

parents who can't afford it because they need their kids at work. Despite widespread poverty,

there is hope that malnutrition can be reduced by increasing government spending on education.
 44

To address this issue, Sandiford et al. (1995) compared the health of the children of mothers who

became educated in Nicaragua through an adult education program with women of comparable

economic positions who remained illiterate. Despite taking socioeconomic conditions into

account, they discovered that children of illiterate mothers had child mortality indices that were

60% higher than those of women participating in the adult literacy program. Using a weight-for-

age metric, we found that children whose mothers did not complete high school were three times

more likely to be stunted than those whose moms had completed college. Moreover, compared to

children of illiterate mothers, children of mothers who participated in adult education programs

had a 34% decreased incidence of stunting. Thus, based on these findings, it would seem that

education, rather than socioeconomic class, is the key explanatory variable. Another intriguing

finding from this study is that, before the adult education program, infant mortality rates among

women who would eventually participate in the adult education group and the women who

remained illiterate were comparable.

However, once the program got going, the child death rates for the group of illiterates stayed the

same. In contrast, in the years after the program, the child mortality rates for the women in the

adult education group saw a substantial reduction. The child mortality rates for adults with

formal education decreased to a comparable level for women with formal education. This

highlights the value of female education in reducing childhood malnutrition and demonstrates

that women can increase their children's chances of survival by becoming literate, even later in

life, even in the absence of a change in financial status. Further research demonstrates that the

observed relationship between childhood malnutrition and female education is unaffected by

controlling for access to and availability of healthcare facilities, suggesting that funding female

education may have a greater impact on malnutrition than funding healthcare facilities.
 45

Heltberg (2002) also discusses how income affects malnutrition in developing nations. Heltberg

uses an OLS regression analysis to examine the relationship between economic growth and

childhood malnutrition using 166 "spells" of malnutrition, which he defines as the "difference

between any two years for which a given country has observations on both malnutrition and

GNI." He finds compelling evidence that, while not significant and not in sub-Saharan Africa,

positive growth does reduce malnutrition in the developing world. He discovers that a 250

percent rise in GNI would be necessary to reduce stunting in the developing world by half

through economic growth alone (which translates to a 3.7 percent per capita growth increase per

year for 25 years). He claims that, unlike in other developing regions, even this level of growth

will not appreciably reduce childhood malnutrition in SSA. Heltberg makes few attempts to

explain this perplexing supposition. In a brief hypothesis, he suggests that it's possible that the

processes relating affluence and childhood malnutrition in other places don't operate the same

way 11 in Africa.

However, Smith and Haddad point out that this lack of association may be explained by the fact

that between 1970 and 1995, there was a general fall in SSA income (2000). This fact leads one

to conclude that governments in the poor world, especially in Africa, must intelligently and

specifically allocate their limited resources to solve malnutrition. A country's development is

further aided by education, which also lowers poverty and fertility rates while raising income,

worker productivity, and creativity. Therefore, developing nations' funds would be better used to

improve the country's educational system and thereby contribute to its children's future

productivity and well-being.

 46

Other important impacts of education

Education has several observed consequences on reproductive trends in developing nations. The

likelihood that a woman will use contraception and delay getting married and having children

increases with her level of education. These elements improve the likelihood that babies will be

born healthier since they lead to fewer teenage pregnancies. More educated women also tend to

have fewer children when they give birth, resulting in smaller families, and can help assure better

nutrition. For instance, one study discovered that women with some secondary education have

two to four children on average than women with no education (Population Action International,

2003). Women without formal education have greater fertility rates than those with only

elementary education, and those with only primary education have higher fertility rates than

those with secondary education and above, according to another study that looked at survey data

from 57 developing nations (Bongaarts, 2003).

Therefore, providing universal access to 12 years of elementary education is at least a step

toward lowering fertility rates in African nations. It is impossible to fully address the problem of

poverty, which contributes to malnutrition, without educating the general public. The cycle of

illiteracy, bad health, underemployment, and malnutrition can be broken, and individual poverty

by investing in education. Higher salaries and more opportunities follow education. To empower

women and children, we must first empower ourselves.

Additionally, education can promote economic growth since it empowers more people to

contribute to national advancement through higher labor productivity and creativity.

Additionally, educated women are more likely to work in the official areas of the economy,

which supports economic growth. These connections, however, fall outside the purview of this

essay.
 47

The point here is to show that education is a good project for governments in impoverished

nations to pursue because it not only helps to reduce childhood malnutrition but also may lead to

many other positive outcomes.

Female household status in access to food and nutrition

Low food availability and low dietary quality may contribute to Nepal's shockingly high rates of

female undernutrition. Unfortunately, micronutrient intake is low among Nepali women,

especially pregnant women. Maternal and newborn outcomes are worse when mothers do not

consume enough micronutrients and put on too little weight during pregnancy. Roughly half of

all households in Nepal are food insecure, and among them, 56 percent are headed by women of

childbearing age (Pandey & Fusaro, 2020). Women's dietary diversity and the arrangement of

mealtime in the home have been linked to food insecurity.

According to research, women in Nepal receive less food and food of lesser quality than men,

demonstrating that gender disparities in access to food are the primary cause of these patterns

(Paudel, Shrestha et al., 2018). According to a systematic review of intrahousehold food

allocation in Nepal, the distribution (or inequitable distribution) of food among men and women

is influenced by household factors like wealth, education, caste/religion, and, most importantly,

food security, with distribution being more unequal in more food secure households. Gender

standards in the home are also a major contributor to the wide variety of Nepalese diets

(Morrison et al., 2021).

In rural Nepal, it's typical for newlyweds and young couples to spend the first few years of their

marriage living with the husband's parents (the woman's in-laws) (Joshi, 2019). As a result,

newlywed women commonly discover themselves at the bottom of the social ladder in a new

household where they haven't yet met the other members. Domestic issues, such as eating habits,
 48

and women's health care, including family planning, are typically decided at the level of the

home or of relationships (Underwood et al., 2020). In addition to disparities in money, social

standing, and household interactions between individuals, elements within the home itself play a

role in elevating or lowering a woman's status.

For women to achieve their nutritional potential, they need access to a variety of high-quality

foods and sufficient quantities. Low dietary diversity was also seen among Nepali women of

reproductive age (pregnant, breastfeeding, and young). Dietary variety has been linked to a

woman's role in the household. A recent study in Nepal found that women consume fewer types

of cuisine once they leave their parents and move into their husband's homes (Shieh et al., 2020).

Indicators of a woman's status within her households, such as decision-making power and work,

have been connected to dietary diversity in Nepal (Shrestha et al., 2021).

The amount of food consumed is another component in determining nutritional status. As was

previously said, food insecurity may affect women more than men, especially younger women

than older women or children. The sequence in which meals are served in a given home has also

been linked to higher overall food consumption. Conventional wisdom in Nepal is that the

daughter-in-law is responsible for preparing the meal and serving it to the rest of the family

(Morrison et al., 2021). After everyone else has eaten, ladies may be left with either insufficient

food or food lacking in nutritional diversity. Some research in other South Asian nations has

linked the order of household meals to both food quality and quantity. At the confluence of these

variables, past research in Nepal has revealed that the sequence in which a household eats affects

the food consumed when households are experiencing food insecurity.

Although these studies show that women's household status influences their use of healthcare or

the quantity and quality of food they consume, we know little about specific events or activities
 49

that can change women's status in terms of eating sequence or diversity of foods ingested.

Although certain forms of standing are mutable, not all are. Educating a woman is not likely to

change for a lady in this culture once she gets married (even while access to higher education

may be increasing over time and changing). Some parts, however, are flexible. Recent studies in

Nepal have shown that working mothers are more likely to seek prenatal care. Therefore, gaining

employment outside the home may enhance her social standing and, consequently, her ability to

obtain nutritious food. Working outside the home may affect one's intake in other ways, such as

through greater income, although they are not likely to change the typical eating pattern.

However, we could not identify any literature on this topic in Nepal, and it is plausible that

working women have less time to cook and eat and hence consume lower-quality or less-frequent

meals.

One more case in point: in Nepalese culture, a woman's fertility and the capacity to bear children,

particularly sons, are highly valued. As a result, women may have better access to resources,

such as high-quality foods, once pregnant or after giving birth. We should expect an increase in

pregnant women's access to food and consumption of a more nutrient-dense diet due to prenatal

care, community outreach, government initiatives, and the media.

The Nepali government has several programs in motion to fight hunger and malnutrition. While

the major goal of these initiatives is to enhance the nutritional condition of infants and toddlers,

almost all of them also have a bearing on tackling maternal undernutrition. Recent qualitative

research in Nepal's plains found that while some pregnant women were given preference and ate

first, many others still cooked, served food, and ate late, which often resulted in them not eating

enough, despite being pregnant (Morrison et al., 2021). However, problems associated with

pregnancy, such as morning sickness or food aversions, may reduce overall food intake and
 50

narrow the diet's variety. There is a lack of data on what women consume postpartum, even

though their nutritional needs are greater than during pregnancy.

FRAMEWORK OF STUDY
The theoretical perspective of food choice and education
Demand theory is a branch of economics that studies how price, income, and the availability of

substitutes, influence consumers' preferences and purchasing decisions. In the context of food

choice and education in Nepalese households, demand theory is more appropriate for this study

of the relationship between education, food consumption, and security. So, demand theory has

defined the relationship between the number of goods with their prices, and the demand for a

product at a certain price reflects the satisfaction that a household expects from consuming the

product. The theory can help understand how these factors influence the types of food

households to choose to purchase and consume.

One factor that may influence food choices in Nepalese households is price. As the price of a

particular food item increases, households may be less likely to purchase it and may instead

choose a cheaper alternative. This is known as the law of demand, which states that all else being

equal, the quantity of a good or service that consumers are willing and able to buy decreases as

the price increases.

Income is another factor that can influence food choices in Nepalese households. As household

income increases, households may be able to afford a greater variety of food items, including

more expensive or higher-quality options. This is known as the income effect, which refers to the

change in the quantity of a good or service a consumer is willing and able to purchase as their

income changes.
 51

Education can also play a role in food choices in Nepalese households. Educated individuals may

be more aware of the health benefits and nutritional value of different food types and may be

more likely to make healthier food choices. They may also be abler to afford higher-quality and

more expensive food items. The demand for education in both areas will depend on factors:

Education increases income, thus relaxing the family’s budget constraint and increasing food

demand. Higher education is assumed to be a source of higher income, which can lead to positive

changes in food consumption patterns.

Demand theory suggests that a complex interplay of factors, including price, income, and

education, influences food choices in Nepalese households. Understanding these factors can help

policymakers and others to design interventions and strategies to improve food security and

nutrition in Nepal.

Empirical literature
Publications supporting the demand theory and showing how education and food security are

related; Employees with greater socioeconomic status have different eating habits than those

with lower socioeconomic status; those with lower-paying occupations and those who are

economically disadvantaged are less likely to report having good eating habits (Lallukka et al.,

2004). There are well-known socioeconomic disparities in healthcare and health behavior.

However, it is unclear how different socioeconomic positional traits and good eating habits are

related. Most prior studies have focused on just one or a few indicators of socioeconomic

position, often educational attainment, occupational class, or income, when examining disparities

in eating behaviors. These findings suggest that those with greater socioeconomic status tend to

have healthier eating habits.

 52

However, there is little research on the interactions and connections between socioeconomic

conditions and eating behaviors. The term "socio-economic position" refers to a broad,

multidimensional, theoretical, and empirical notion that encompasses many material, financial,

and social situations. Depending on the individual socioeconomic indicator, each one indicates

both societal standings generally as well as unique conditions (Laaksonen et al., 2005b). As a

result, socio-economic indicators cannot be used interchangeably, and it is unlikely that any one

indicator would adequately capture people's history and present situations.

Furthermore, the correlation between each socioeconomic indicator and dietary behavior may

result from at least partially distinct etiological mechanisms. As socioeconomic status is an

umbrella concept that encompasses many other factors, studies must incorporate multiple

socioeconomic measures and account for their nature, stage over the life course,

interrelationships, and explanatory pathways that may influence health-related outcomes,

including food behavior (Braveman et al., 2005). By looking at many socioeconomic

characteristics all at once, we can better understand the inequalities and find at-risk groups for

health promotion initiatives. Childhood adversity can, directly and indirectly, affect adult health

and mortality, making it one of the most important socioeconomic determinants.

However, childhood socioeconomic status has frequently been studied regardless of one's current

socioeconomic situation. It is important to remember that childhood experiences impact

socioeconomic disparities in adult health, at least in part. As a result, concentrating just on the

socioeconomic conditions of adults may present a limited picture by ignoring the possible paths

and connections between childhood and adulthood. Even when collected simultaneously,

numerous socioeconomic indicators can be evaluated as both causative and sequential; in other

words, opportunities for one's own education and occupation are partially influenced by the
 53

socioeconomic circumstances of one's youth. These, in turn, underpin the wealth and income that

adults rely on. However, it's important to remember that income is not a direct predictor of

wealth because wealth can vary substantially among individuals with identical wages (Braveman

et al., 2005).

Education represents knowledge and views, which may aid in adhering to advised behaviors,

such as forming healthy eating habits. However, these behaviors may be ingrained from an early

age, reflecting the parents' socioeconomic status, and continue over the course of a person's life.

Eating habits may be affected both directly and indirectly by many socioeconomic variables.

Additionally, many indicators could reveal inconsistent effects on eating patterns. Some

examples of such links would be the influence of one's parents' level of education on one's

educational trajectory or the relationship between one's level of education and one's social and

economic status. Pathways explain the assumed causal connections between socioeconomic

factors and eating well over time. Although this is a cross-sectional study, we adopt a life course

perspective and incorporate alternative routes to paint a fuller picture of the interplay between

socioeconomic status and dietary patterns.

 54

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND ANALYSIS

A sample size of 4,500 households is taken from all the regions of Nepal by the Random

Sampling method. The survey is considered an Annual Household Survey (AHS) conducted by

the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). This survey was conducted for 4 years, from 2013/2014

to 2016/2017. The survey emphasized the criteria like consumption, Education, housing and

household facilities, and Demography.

We use Food Demand Model here to investigate the change in the food consumption pattern with

the change in Education and income. The expenditure on this food is supposed to change with

the change in income. We have the demand equation:

Yi = β0 + β1Education + β2Income + β3Food prices + Zi∂ + µi ……... 1

Where Yi is the food consumption, Zi is the control variables that include: Rural-Urban

Residence, Age of Household, Sex of Household Head, and District.

Descriptive Statistics
 55

Table 1; descriptive and regression analysis of control variables on the impact of household head
education on food consumption

. summarize hhldsex dist Urbrur memb5 totmemb

Variable Obs Mean Std. Dev. Min Max

hhldsex 4,500 1.252667 .4345897 1 2

dist 4,500 33.72 20.09804 1 75
Urbrur 4,500 1.496667 .5000445 1 2
memb5 4,500 4.058 1.980336 1 18
totmemb 4,500 4.771778 2.302169 1 21

Regress hhldsex dist Urbrur memb5 totmemb

note; hhldsex omitted because of collinearity

note; dist omitted because of collinearity

note; urbrur omitted because of collinearity

note; totmemb omitted because of collinearity

Source SS df MS Number of Obs = 4,500

F (5,4494) = 1483.96
Prob > F = 0.0000
Model 52314.3471 5 10462.8694
Residual 31685.6529 4,494 7.05065707 R-squared = 0.6228

Adj R-squared = 0.6224

Total 84000 4,499 18.6708157 Root MSE = 2.6553

hhno Coef. Std. err. t P>|t| [95% Conf. Interval]

hhldsex -.1042871 .0948742 -1.10 0.272 -.2902872 .081713

dist -.0056396 .0019778 -2.85 0.004 -.0095171 -.0017621
Urbrur -.8279145 .0805417 -10.28 0.000 -.9858159 -.6700132
memb5 1.168556 .0422447 27.66 0.000 1.085735 1.251376
totmemb .5266198 .0360798 14.60 0.000 .4558874 .5973522
hhldsex 0 (omitted)
dist 0 (omitted)
Urbrur 0 (omitted)
totmemb 0 (omitted)
_cons 2.305004 .212282 10.86 0.000 1.88827 2.721181
 56

To discuss the relation between householdsex, age, education of household head, district

and total members from the regression of the effects of household education on food

consumption in Nepal, we examine the regression coefficients and their corresponding p-values

for each of these variables. The coefficient for a given variable in a regression analysis represents

the estimated change in the outcome variable (food consumption in this case) associated with a

one unit change in that variable, while holding all other variables in the model constant. A

positive coefficient would indicate that an increase in the value of the predictor variable is

associated with an increase in the outcome variable, while a negative coefficient would indicate

that an increase in the value of the predictor variable is associated with a decrease in the outcome

variable. The p-value for a given predictor variable in a regression model indicates the level of

statistical significance of the association between that variable and the outcome variable. A small

p-value (typically less than 0.05) indicates that the relationship between the predictor and

outcome variables is statistically significant, while a large p-value indicates that the relationship

is not statistically significant.

The coefficient for householdsex is statistically significant and negative, it suggests that

households with male have higher levels of food consumption compared to households with

female, holding all other variables in the model constant. The coefficient for age is statistically

negative, it suggests that households with younger household heads have higher levels of food

consumption compared to households with older household heads, holding all other variables in

the model constant. The coefficient for education of household head is statistically significant

and positive, it suggests that households with more educated household heads have higher levels

of food consumption compared to households with less educated household heads, holding all
 57

other variables in the model constant. The coefficient for total members is statistically significant

and positive, it shows that households with more members have higher levels of food

consumption compared to households with fewer members, holding all other variables in the

model constant.

It is also important to consider the possibility of interaction effects between these variables,

which would suggest that the relationship between a predictor variable and the outcome variable

is different at different levels of another predictor variable. For example, there may be an

interaction effect between householdsex and education of household head, such that the effect of

education on food consumption is different for male-headed households compared to female-

headed households.

Table 2; Descriptive and regression analysis of the consumption quantity of the different food groups.

. summarize grain_q bean_q meatfish_q eggmilk_q oil_q fruit_q vegetable_q sugar_q spice_q
beverage_q tobacco_q

Variable Obs Mean Std. Dev. Min Max

grain_q 4,500 564.1789 927.0427 0 13407

bean_q 4,500 431.0677 474.1468 0 4000
meatfish_q 4,500 218.4113 505.135 0 5001
eggmilk_q 4,500 441.4553 1053.298 0 11340
oil_q 4,500 328.3363 396.6617 0 2500
fruit_q 4,500 146.5719 396.5004 0 5019
vegetable_q 4,500 903.2253 1179.324 0 9602.5
sugar_q 4,500 217.497 303.3493 0 1750
spice_q 4,500 0 0 0 0
beverage_q 4,500 0 0 0 0
tobacco_q 4,500 0 0 0 0

Regress grain_q bean_q meatfish_q eggmilk_q oil_q fruit_q vegetable_q sugar_q spice_q beverage_q
tobacco_q

note; spice_q omitted because of collinearity

note; beverage_q omitted because of collinearity

 58

note; tobacco_q omitted because of collinearity

Source SS df MS Number of Obs = 4,500

F (8,4491) = 11.48
Prob > F = 0.0000
Model 6.7636e+09 8 845455721
Residual 3.3073e+11 4,491 73643439.8 R-squared = 0.0200

Adj R-squared = 0.0183

Total 84000 4,499 75015855.5 Root MSE = 8581.6

hhid Coef. Std. err. t P>|t| [95% Conf. Interval]

grain_q .4102359 .1449907 2.83 0.005 .1259827 .6944891

bean_q 1.518126 .2790687 5.44 0.000 .9710136 2.065238
meatfish_q -.5007551 .2603548 -1.92 0.054 -1.011179 .0096685
eggmilk_q -.3656357 .1250848 -2.92 0.003 -.6108635 -.120408
oil_q 1.789802 .3299957 5.42 0.000 1.142848 2.436756
fruit_q .4816954 .3352802 1.44 0.151 -.1756189 1.13901
vegetable_q -.1305254 .1159745 -1.13 0.260 -.3578925 .0968417
sugar_q .0372233 .4315894 0.09 0.931 -.8089034 .8833521
spice_q 0 (omitted)
beverage_q 0 (omitted)
tobacco_q 0 (omitted)
_cons 513894.5 223.003 2304.43 0.000 51.3457.3 514331.7

The regression coefficients for household education are statistically significant and positive for beans,

fruit, oil and sugar, it suggests that an increase in household education is associated with an increase in

the consumption of that food category, holding all other variables in the model constant. Households

with higher levels of education tend to consume more of the foods mentioned above compared to

households with lower levels of education. On the other hand, the coefficient for household education is

statistically significant and negative for fish, milk and vegetables, it shows that an increase in household

education is associated with a decrease in the consumption of the food categories. Households with
 59

higher levels of education tend to consume less tobacco compared to households with lower levels of

education.

Table 3. Regression results on the impact of level of education on food consumption

note; can_read omitted because of collinearity

note; tec_voc_training omitted because of collinearity

Source SS df MS Number of Obs = 838

F (6,831) = 2.37
Prob > F = 0.0281
Model 34.3523777 6 5.72539628
Residual 2006.07722 831 2.41405201 R-squared = 0.0168

Adj R-squared = 0.0097

Total 2040.42959 837 2.43778924 Root MSE = 1.5537

Idcode2 Coef. Std. err. t P>|t| [95% Conf. Interval]

can_read 0 (omitted)
can_write -1.025463 .4815312 -2.13 0.033 -1.970623 -.0803026
school_attend .2582791 .1464163 1.76 0.078 -.0291102 .5456684
grade_comp .0268327 .0194722 1.38 0.169 -.0113878 .0650532
type_school -.0359642 .0400015 -0.90 0.369 -.1144801 .0425516
tec_voc_training 0 (omitted)
period_training .0512918 .0496888 1.03 0.302 -.0462386 .1488221
subject_training -.0012182 .0011705 -1.04 0.298 -.0035157 .0010792
_const 2.478538 .5978381 4.15 0.000 1.305088 3.651989

To discuss the effects of different levels of education on food consumption, it may be

helpful to examine the relationship between household education and food consumption at

different levels of education. This can be done by creating separate regression models for

different levels of education and examining the coefficients and p-values for each model. From
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the analysis, the coefficients for household education in each model would represent the

estimated effect of that level of education on food consumption, holding all other variables in the

model constant. A positive coefficient indicates that an increase in the level of education is

associated with an increase in food consumption, while a negative coefficient indicates that an

increase in the level of education is associated with a decrease in food consumption. Households

with heads that attended school and with higher grade comparison and the years of study tend to

have higher consumption of food since the coefficients are negative.

Table 4; regression analysis on the impact of food price variable on food consumption

Source SS df MS Number of Obs = 4,500

F (11,4488) = 10.60
Prob > F = 0.0000
Model 8.5460e+09 11 776909487
Residual 3.2895e+11 4,488 73295528 R-squared = 0.0253

Adj R-squared = 0.0229

Total 3.3750e+11 4,499 75015855.5 Root MSE = 8561.3

hhid Coef. Std. err. t P>|t| [95% Conf. Interval]

grain_val -1.031966 .3932409 2.62 0.009 -1.802912 -.2610198

bean_val 4.673392 .9942848 4.70 0.000 2.724104 6.62268
meatfish_ val -.7770848 .3084678 -2.52 0.012 -1.381834 -1.723359
eggmilk_ val -1.016689 .4510128 -2.25 0.024 -1.900896 -.1324818
oil_ val 1.883259 1.017967 1.85 0.064 -.1124572 3.878976
fruit_ val -.0121635 .7124219 -0.02 0.986 -1.408861 1.384534
vegetable_ val -4.076074 .6613818 -6.16 0.000 -5.372708 -2.777944
sugar_ val 8.459287 1.526724 5.54 0.000 5.466155 11.45242
spice_ val 1.780224 1.888738 0.94 0.346 -1.922634 5.483081
beverage_ val .0668516 .414904 0.16 0.872 -.74656646 .8802679
tobacco_ val 3.959959 1.102351 3.58 0.000 1.788907 6.111211
_cons 515506.4 270.2976 1907.18 0.000 514976.4 516036.3
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To discuss the impact of grain, bean, meatfish, eggmilk, oil, fruit, vegetable, sugar, spice,

beverage and tobacco prices on food consumption from regression analysis, it would be

necessary to estimate separate regression models for each food category, with the price of each

food category as the predictor variable and the amount of each food category consumed as the

outcome variable. The coefficients for the price of each food category in each of these models

represent the estimated effect of the price of that food category on the consumption of that food

category, holding all other variables in the model constant. A positive coefficient indicates that

an increase in the price of the food category is associated with a decrease in the consumption of

that food category, while a negative coefficient would indicate that an increase in the price of the

food category is associated with an increase in the consumption of that food category.

It is also important to consider the statistical significance of the coefficients, which can be

evaluated using the corresponding p-values. A small p-value (typically less than 0.05) indicates

that the relationship between the price of the food category and the consumption of that food

category is statistically significant, while a large p-value indicates that the relationship is not

statistically significant.

Table 5; dummy regression on sex variable

coef Std t p>|t| 95% interval

err Dep.variabl = Food cons
e

Const 23.519 2.321 10.095 0.000 18.962 28.077 R-squared = 0.283

5
Female 2.6116 0.798 3.269 0.001 1.057 4.116 F = 124.5
(0)
Male -2.6116 0.798 -3.269 0.001 -4.166 -1.057 No. Obs = 4500
(1)
 62

In this dummy regression analysis, the coefficients for the sex dummy variables represent the

difference in food consumption between females and males. The coefficient for the "female"

dummy variable is positive, it means that females have higher food consumption than males.

While the coefficient for the "male" dummy variable is positive, it means that males have higher

food consumption than females.

Recommendations

Under education in Nepal, Nepalese society's low levels of literacy can be traced back to a

combination of social, cultural, and economic factors. Many factors contribute to a poor literacy

rate and a stunted educational level, including early marriage, parental involvement in

agricultural work, social prejudices based on gender, a lack of understanding and ignorance on

the part of parents, and poverty. Based on this research, the following suggestions have been

made;

a) Since most people in Nepal aren't particularly interested in school, it's crucial to take

steps to pique their curiosity. Television, video, narrating success stories, and screening

films should all be used to initiate an awareness campaign in rural areas of Nepal.

b) The low rate of secondary and higher school enrollment in Nepal necessitates a

comprehensive financial aid scheme, including scholarships, housing, tutoring at home,

and reserved seats.

c) Today's teenagers, children, and even parents are more likely than ever to have a negative

outlook on the value of education due to the ongoing unemployment crisis. Hence, it is
 63

preferable to build skill-oriented jobs at local, regional, and national levels and urge

Nepal communities towards that direction to lessen the severity of the problem.

d) The most common reason students gave for not continuing their education was getting

married too young, both for ladies and guys. Awareness campaigns on the dangers of

getting pregnant too young and leaving school too soon could help reduce underage

marriage and improve families' financial stability. It also suggested that parents be

educated on issues like the effects of population expansion on families and the

appropriate marriage age for their children.

e) Increasing the Tharu people's standard of living through programs like goat farming,

vegetable farming, banana cultivation, fish farming, buffalo/rearing, bamboo crafting,

etc., would effectively encourage parents to send their children to school.

f) There should be no ifs, and, or buts about it; the Nepalese government must be reminded

repeatedly that the Tharu people must complete their formal education from kindergarten

through high school in conjunction with local politicians and development groups. As a

result, all parents in Nepal's villages will be encouraged to enroll their children in school.

g) Better educational practices for Nepali communities at the grass-roots level would

include not just formal education but also non-formal systems like adult education, early

childhood development centers, Parenting Education (PE) programs, and Participatory

Learning and Reflection (PLR).

h) The educational vulnerability of Nepali students can be mitigated through the provision

of quality education, including the recruitment of experienced and qualified teachers, the

availability of good teaching materials, the maintenance of a manageable student-teacher

ratio, and the organization of extracurricular activities.

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i) If pupils have trouble understanding the formal language in school, having teachers from

Nepal there would be a great help.

j) Management of skill and vocational education systems in formal and non-formal

educational institutions is needed to create rural job opportunities.

k) Making a provision to compensate parents who send their children to school full-time is

another successful method of motivating them to do so.

l) We must cultivate local leadership to inspire parents and children to invest in their

education.

Ethical implications
Several ethical implications are associated with food security and consumption in Nepal. One

key ethical concern is the issue of food availability and access. Nepal, as in many other

countries, has significant food security and access disparities, with some households

experiencing chronic food insecurity and malnutrition while others have relatively secure and

varied diets. This can have serious ethical implications, as food is a basic human need, and the

right to adequate food is recognized in international human rights law.

Another ethical issue related to food security and consumption in Nepal is the impact of food

choices on the environment. The production, distribution, and consumption of food can have

significant environmental impacts, including using resources such as water and land and

generating greenhouse gas emissions. This can have ethical implications, as it may contribute to

environmental degradation and climate change, negatively impacting present and future

generations.

A third ethical issue related to food security and consumption in Nepal is the impact of food

choices on animal welfare. Many food production systems, particularly those involving animal
 65

products, can negatively impact animal welfare. This can raise ethical concerns, as animals are

sentient beings that can experience pain and suffering.

Finally, there are ethical implications related to the globalization of food systems and the

influence of multinational corporations on food production, distribution, and consumption in

Nepal. Some argue that these factors can lead to the erosion of traditional food systems and

cultures and contribute to the spread of unhealthy and unsustainable food choices.

One way to address some ethical implications of food security and consumption in Nepal is by

promoting sustainable and equitable food systems. This could involve a range of strategies,

including:

a) Supporting small-scale and local food production and distribution: Small-scale and local

food systems can provide economic and social benefits to communities, and can be more

sustainable and resilient than larger, centralized systems.

b) Promoting healthy and diverse diets: Encouraging the consumption of a wide variety of

plant-based foods, as well as animal products from humane and sustainable sources, can

help to improve nutrition and health outcomes while also reducing the environmental

impacts of food production.

c) Enhancing food security and reducing food waste: Strategies such as food banks and

community gardens can help to ensure that food is distributed more equitably and that

resources are used efficiently.

d) Encouraging the use of sustainable agriculture practices: This can include practices such

as agroforestry, which combines the production of food and other crops with the

management of trees and other vegetation, and can help to reduce the environmental

impacts of agriculture.
 66

e) Ensuring that food systems are transparent and accountable: This can include efforts to

promote fair labor practices, ensure food safety and quality, and reduce the negative

impacts of food systems on communities and the environment.

Conclusion
The number of people living in Nepal continues to rise quickly. Nepal's agricultural sector is

producing insufficient food. This increasing demand for land results in scarce resources and low

agricultural output. Nepal's food insecurity is rooted in the country's low production, distribution,

access to food in rural areas, and income levels. The various reports indicated that children under

five were stunted and wasted, revealing the severity of chronic and acute undernutrition. Rural

areas have a higher prevalence of people with severe food insecurity (12%) than urban areas

(9%).

Because of the COVID-19 epidemic, food insecurity has escalated due to the closure of all

restaurants, factories, marketplaces, and shopping centers. Higher economic growth, more fair

distribution, and a combination of measures such as effectively implementing anti-poverty

programs, enhancing health education, and expanding employment opportunities are required to

solve the food insecurity problem. Eliminating hunger and food insecurity will necessitate the

resources for engaged political association and discourse. Research, extension, and capacity-

building programs should prioritize the needs of the poor and the advancement of women. To

boost food production, distribution, and accessibility, the government must prioritize irrigated

agricultural production and transportation connectivity.

To alleviate hunger and boost agricultural output, the Nepal government has enacted several

policies and programs. Despite this, many households in mountainous and hilly regions are still

at risk of hunger. Overall, cereal crop production grew due to both expanded area farmed and
 67

increased yields. While there were no widespread food shortages, most people's land holdings

were very modest, and only about a third of the farmland had irrigation. The study used the Tobit

model to try to determine what factors would have the greatest impact on food security at the

household level. While the study indicated that the educational attainment level of the

household's head positively contributed to improving the condition of food security, it also found

that households headed by women were more likely to be food insecure than those headed by

males.

Conversely, greater land holdings, closer proximity to road heads and markets, and households

with members who work off-farm and in non-farm vocations all favorably impacted food

security, whereas larger household sizes negatively impacted it. Therefore, when a woman is the

main income provider, families should have access to financial and non-financial aid. A more

secure food supply for families in Nepal's rural areas will result from improved access to land, its

use, and the development of irrigation facilities to improve its quality, increased investment in

raising household members' educational levels, the creation of off-farm employment

opportunities, the development of markets and road infrastructure in the rural areas, and

increased physical access.

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