THIMPHU: One in four Bhutanese households is undernourished in terms of daily calorie intake, according to a 2008 study on the right to food assessment (RFA) in Bhutan. The minimum daily energy requirement is 2,124 kilocalories per person per day, according to the Bhutan living standard survey (BLSS) methodology used in the 2004 and 2007 poverty analysis report. Based on this study, 26.6 percent of Bhutanese households fall short of this requirement. Undernourishment was highest in Wangduephodrang and Zhemgang at 40 percent, and the lowest, between 11 to 17 percent was found in Trashigang, Tsirang and Trashiyangtse.

The national average daily adult caloric intake was 3,112 kilocalories. Zhemgang had the lowest consumption nationwide, with an average caloric consumption of 2,555 kilocalories.

The poorest 20 percent of urban households consumed 2,318 kilocalories per day per person, while the poorest 20 percent in rural areas consumed only 1,982 kilocalories.

The study, “Right to Food Assessment in Bhutan: Looking at policies, legal frameworks and institutions,” was jointly conducted by the food and agriculture organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, Italy and the ministry of agriculture, to find out the food situation in the country.

The right to food (RTF) broadens the concept of ‘food security’ by adding a legal dimension. Governments have the duty to protect individuals from more powerful individuals or entities that threaten to infringe on a person’s RTF. The indictors of food insufficiency were caloric intake, under-nourishment, dietary quality, distance to the food market and instability in food intake.

In terms of food insufficiency, 13.8 percent of Bhutanese households did not have sufficient access to food for one or more months in a year.

Food instability, when calculated in terms of distance to the nearest food market, was greater for remote households. “For urban areas, no such trend can be observed,” said to the study.

However, results of different indicators, when broken down to the dzongkhag level, showed that results on household food instability were only partly in line with the results of caloric intake and undernourishment.

“Almost 60 percent households in Dagana indicated at least a month of food insufficiency, but just over 20 percent of the population could be classified as undernourished, based on their kilocalorie intake,” stated the study.

Those with little land and education but relatively better access to markets and those with remote households with low levels of education, despite higher land ownership, are the most undernourished, at 24 percent among the rural population.

Among the urban households, those with low levels of education and assets represented 23.42 percent of the undernourished urban population.

More than 82 percent of the sampled households identified sanitation, livestock services and agricultural services as the key public services and infrastructure that would lead to improved food security. Other services important in improving food security included health services, (79.3%); water (76.2%); education (73.1%); and roads (64.9%).

Food-insufficient households identified land as the key factor influencing food shortage and about four percent said that they do not have land. On an average, 31 percent of the food-insufficient households indicated damage caused by wild animals responsible for food shortage, while 14.5 percent claim a shortage of labour as the key factor. Only 2.4 percent identified liquidity as the responsible factor for their food insecurity.

The study recommended investment in public infrastructure and basic services, in education and to improve access (and returns) to land and other agricultural assets.

In terms of legal framework and policies, the study stated, although food security was one of the government’s main objectives since 1994, a holistic approach to building food security was missing.

The findings, which were presented to the government on September 18 last year, recommended explicit recognition of the right to food in the Food Act of Bhutan and to eliminate ambiguities regarding its interpretation.