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SECURITY
STUDY
September 08
COSUMPTION
TRENDS
IN
LIGHT
OF
RISING
Introduction
The food security study aimed at evaluating the various food consumption patterns of Kashf Foundations
Group Lending clients by surveying across a hundred households (HHs). The representative clients of these
households belonged to ten randomly selected branches from the pool of 132 branches across the
various districts of Punjab in which Kashf is currently operating. The questionnaire designed in this
regards comprised various identifiers such as:
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The median monthly food budget for the sampled households came out to be around Rs.6,250. However,
the findings also revealed that 25% of the respondents households were spending in the range of
Rs.10,000 to Rs.20,000 on their monthly purchases.
96% of the respondents revealed that their households stock of food was being purchased from the local
general/karyana store. However, 41% revealed that they were also buying food from the nearby utility
store or a wholesale market.
100
80
60
40
20
0
General
stores
Utility stores
Wholesale
market
Others
Self
production
Coping mechanisms
Upon being questioned whether the current level of food prices were placing a financial burden on their
families, 90% of the respondents were in the affirmative. This outcome seems to be quite understandable,
given that most of Kashfs GL clients have respective monthly household incomes of under Rs.10,000 and
hence the concurrent food budget seems to be taking up 60% - 70% of the earnings. Out of the
surveyed clients, 29% revealed that they had experienced a number of days in the span of one year in
which they had gone hungry. These ranged from 1-4 days, with 9%, 8%, 8% and 4% respectively.
However, unexpectedly it was the male folk that revealed in 65% of the cases to have had their
nutritional intake reduced. These mostly consisted of the husbands of the female clients in 40% of the
cases, whereas the female household members that indicated being affected comprised entirely of the
clients themselves.
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Affected Person
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Overall, only 82% of the surveyed clients families were consuming 3 meals a day, whereas most of the
others were subsisting on eating twice a day. On being questioned on what a typical meal included, the
respondents indicated at consuming items falling under most of the basic categories such as pulses,
vegetables, cereals or grains, meat and dairy products. Vegetables and pulses were consumed by almost
all of the questioned clients families, whereas rice and milk were taken by 94% and 93% respectively.
The most popular meat choices were chicken and beef that were being preferred by 72% and 60%
respectively. 51% of the clients revealed that their respective families complement their meals with
yogurt.
Chicken
Mutton
Beaf
Daal
Rice
Milk
Yogart
The oft-repeated coping strategy to counter the burdening effect was revealed in 76% of the cases to
simply eat less. However, the majority i.e. about 67% of the respondents families were resorting to other
measures alongside the afore-mentioned ones. These ranged from taking out a loan, cutting back on
Page 3
other expenses, establishing another business, working longer hours and even in some cases pulling their
children out from school and making them work. This last option was being exercised by 10% of the
households and whilst besides eating less, 42% had taken out a loan whereas 56% had cut back on
expenses other than those related to food. 19% of the responses alluded to putting in an extended work
day and 16% had opted for starting a new business.
A combo strategy option that was the most popular was that of availing credit, eating less and curtailing
expenses and was being practiced by 18% of the surveyed clients families. 54% indicated that their
families had to compromise on their food intake as well as non-food expenses to cope with the rising
costs of edibles.
1
2
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Chicken was being consumed at around 0.5 kg at Rs.120 with eggs being eaten around 3 at Rs.60 a
dozen and that too by only 27% of the respondents households. Fish was only being consumed by 97%
of the households and those HHs that were usually ate about a kilogram of it at a rate of Rs.200.
Common seasonal pulses had a consumption of around 1 kg at a rate of Rs.80, whereas seasonal
vegetables such as lady fingers, tomatoes, onions and potatoes witnessed around 5 kgs worth of intake
at roughly a rate of Rs.40. Milk with 7 liters, ghee with 2 kgs and sugar with 2.5 kgs were being
consumed at rates Rs.30 per liter, Rs.140 and Rs.30 respectively. Cold drinks were typically being
consumed by 57% of the respondents HHs in the range of 1-3 liters at a rate Rs.35. Fruits, usually the
seasonal ones such as mangoes, had an intake of 2 kgs at a rate of Rs.40.
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High price
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
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