| As success is achieved in raising agricultural output and incomes in general, increased attention is being paid to improving the incomes and nutritional status of the lower-income, more disadvantaged peoples. Food subsidies have become an increasingly important means of transferring income to the poor. Because low-income people spend a much higher proportion of their income on food, food is a relatively efficient area for use of subsidies. They increase nutritional status more than other sources of income (see IFPRI Research Report 5, Impact of Subsidies Rice on Food Consumption and Nutrition in Kerala, by Shubh Kumar), and they have greater political acceptance among those with higher incomes, making them an attractive means if innocent transfer. However,... |
