Chapter I


1.5 Intra-household food distribution

As was discussed earlier, the household is often taken as the unit of analysis in issues of
household security, yet need is identified at the level of the individual. Different
physiological needs of different members of the family mean that it is neither fair nor
efficient to divide the food available equally amongst the different family members. It is
difficult to observe how intra-familial food distribution actually takes place. When families
have a communal kitchen, it is difficult to identify the food intake of individual members
accurately. Surveys have been undertaken, but they are time consuming and expensive. It
is even more problematic to identify the basis, or rationale for intra-family household
distribution. The evidence indicates that it varies by country, and by socio-economic group
within country.

Much of the problem of in using the household as the analytical unit arises from the
assumption that household members act jointly to achieve common aims and objectives.
This is by no means always the case. Conflict can arise within the family on the basis of
gender, age, earning capacity and other individual entitlements. The decision-making
processes internal to a family may differ substantially as between, for example, a
traditional rural Asian family where the male is definitely the head of the household and
may have preferential access to food and other resources, and a Southern African family,
effectively female-headed while the adult male is working in the mines.

There is evidence from a number of studies in different parts of Asia that the adult male's
food consumption is greater relative to needs where the household faces chronic food
insecurity. This can be interpreted in two ways. The decision to bias food distribution in
favour of the adult male may be a conscious survival strategy, adopted by the family as a
whole to ensure the income he brings in as principal bread-winner. In this case, the
problem is clearly one of household food insecurity which will be improved by an overall
increase in household entitlements. Alternatively, the unequal distribution may be a result
of intra-familial conflict, where the adult male has greater power, based on his individual
entitlements. Increasing household entitlements would not necessarily improve food
security for other household members, unless this could be effectively targeted away from
the adult male.

Intra-household food distribution may change in the face of shocks to entitlements. There
is evidence from rural South India that food price rises will result in a greater fall in
calorie intake for female members of the household. However, they also benefit more
from a fall in food prices. Evidence from both Orissa in India and Sub-Saharan Africa
indicate that in times of food scarcity such as famine, children get first priority, before
adult men and women.

It has been suggested that it is more valid to focus on the conjugally organised nuclear
family, (i.e. mother, father and children) as the unit of analysis in North Africa, South
Asia and the Middle East than in the Caribbean, Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa,
where family patterns may be more complex. In all cases, however, it is difficult to target


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