Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Land, Livelihoods and Food Security
Volume 9 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2025.1490050

Links between protein-source diversity, household behavior, and protein consumption inadequacy in the Indian rural semi-arid tropics

Provisionally accepted
Shalander Kumar Shalander Kumar 1*Soumitra Pramanik Soumitra Pramanik 1Thomas Reardon Thomas Reardon 2E Revathi E Revathi 3
  • 1 International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru, India
  • 2 Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States
  • 3 Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), Hyderabad, Telangana, India

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Our study analyzes the determinants, sources, and levels of protein consumption among 785 households across nine districts in six Indian states in the semi-arid tropics. We found that 80% of these households consumed less protein than recommended and relied on cereals for 60-75% of their protein intake. Notably, even when protein-rich foods are accessible to households, they still consume them insufficiently. We found that their protein intake deficiency is driven by a lack of diversity of protein sources (in particular, legumes, millets, and livestock), as well as by a dearth of women's education and role in household decision-making and low incomes and assets. We advocate for initiatives to raise nutrition awareness, empower women, and adopt a nutrition-centric farming approach.

    Keywords: Protein malnutritionl, Consumption determinants, Household fixed effects, Nutrition Security, Semiarid tropics

    Received: 02 Sep 2024; Accepted: 13 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Kumar, Pramanik, Reardon and Revathi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Shalander Kumar, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru, India

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.