Exploring the Prevalence of Undernutrition and Consumers’ Knowledge, Preferences, and Willingness to Pay for Biofortified Food

Abstract In this chapter, the prevalence of child and adult malnutrition in India is assessed using the latest National Family Health Survey-5 (2019–21) data. Though the country has made a moderate improvement in reducing the incidence of stunting, wasting, and underweight in children and the incidence of thin adults, the issue of obesity and anaemia has emerged as significant concerns. We identified the northern and southern regions of the country to be better nourished in general than the eastern and western regions and pointed out the malnutrition hotspots using district-level maps. The determinants of malnutrition incidences are identified using multivariate regression analysis. Among different methods to combat the issue of malnutrition, biofortification is a promising one. We estimated the potential of biofortified crops to improve the nutritional outcomes in children and women using a systematic review and meta-analysis. Further, an ex ante health benefits assessment of biofortification was done using rice biofortification with zinc and iron. Finally, since awareness and perception are crucial in improving the adoption of biofortified crops, we extracted the consumer perception of biofortification and their willingness to pay through a cross-sectional survey.