Making Nutritious Diet More Affordable: Findings from the Cost of the Diet Study in West Singhbhum, Jharkhand, India

The Cost of the Diet (CotD) assessment in West Singhbhum district in 2019 was conducted to estimate at the lowest cost, the quantity and combination of local foods that are needed to provide a typical family with foods that meet their average needs for energy and their recommended intakes of protein, fat and micronutrients.

The Cost of the Diet (CotD) assessment was carried out in Chaibasa and Tonto Block of West Singhbhum District of Jharkhand, where Save the Children was implementing a strategic health and nutrition programme. Specifically, this assessment set out to answer the following questions:

• What is the minimum cost of a nutritionally adequate and culturally acceptable diet for typical households in West Singhbhum District?
• What locally available foods are inexpensive sources of essential macro and micronutrients, and could be promoted in the community?
• What is the potential contribution of improved uptake of the existing nutrition interventions on household’s ability to afford a nutritious diet in the assessment area?
• What is the potential effect of improved access of social protection schemes on the availability of nutritious diet at the household level in the assessment area?