Food balance sheet as a parameter of tropical food economies, the case of Mauritius

Developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) just after World War II to aid in the assessment of food supplies in postwar Europe, it has undergone streamlining, standardization, and extensive use since that time. Despite the fact that reliable data for the compilation of food balance sheets are frequently not available in the underdeveloped areas of the world, estimated levels of apparent availability of foodstuffs, derived from the balance sheets, are widely accepted as valid indicators of the national nutritional status of these countries. Translated into the usual common denominators -- calories and grams of protein and fat -- these figures have been used to rank nations as to degree of "nourishment" or "malnourishment" of their populations. They have also provided a statistical basis for the encouragement of food production efforts and marketing schemes and for the establishment of various national and international food policies: nutritional education, school lunch programs, food aid plans, and the like. What follows is divided into 5 parts. Part II deals with the compilation and findings of the food balance sheet. In Part III the household budget survey is analyzed on an island-wide aggregated basis. Part IV compares the results of the food balance sheet and the budget survey. In Part V divergences from the average are discussed with regard to differences in location of residence, ethnic origin, and income levels. Part VI summarizes our conclusions and examines the usefulness of food balance sheet averages as parameters of tropical food economies.