Determinants of food and nutrition security of tribal communities in the hill and mountain regions: Empirical evidence from Northeast India

Abstract

While there is a rich body of gender, natural hazards, and displacement literature globally, such studies on communities in the hill and mountain regions are limited. The literature on the food and nutrition security of tribal and/or indigenous communities in the Mountain and Hill regions remains opaque to date. More so for the tribal communities in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region, which is considered the most densely populated mountain region. These communities cut off from the mainstream population primarily due to complex topography and limited mobility, have evolved their traditional food production techniques. Urbanisation, however, has shifted these communities towards a market-driven food system leading to dietary changes. In this paper, we focus on the difference in the food consumption patterns between rural and urban areas in Nagaland, Northeast India. Using data from 404 households of the Ao-Naga tribe in Mokukchong district, we find that the rural households have higher Food Diversity Score (FDS) than urban households with much higher consumption of traditional foods like organ food and insects. Preliminary analysis also indicates two findings on the primacy of female education for food and nutrition security. One, although meat consumption is higher for urban households, there is a positive correlation between the education of female household heads and meat consumption in rural areas. Two, there is a weak but statistically significant linkage between the education of female household heads and the number of meals consumed per day.