Cross-Country Study on Women’s Time in Reproductive Work, Food Security and Nutrition in Agriculture

Hitomi Komatsu, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Hazel Malapit, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

There has been an increasing attention given to studying the links between agriculture and nutrition, in an effort to specify the conditions in which agricultural and non-agricultural programs could improve nutrition and food security. However, there is little evidence or studies to corroborate the linkage between lack of women’s time in reproductive work, child undernutrition, and food insecurity, most likely due to the lack of data which contains child nutritional status and women’s time spent on reproductive work. This study aims to contribute to this literature by examining the conditions in which less time spent by women in reproductive work (including housework, care work and getting service) lead to poorer child nutrition and food security outcomes. It will use USAID’s Feed the Future collected data on child and maternal nutrition, food security and time use in seven countries: Bangladesh, Ghana, Haiti, Malawi, Nepal, Rwanda and Zambia.