Although Myanmar has made progress in reducing malnutrition, its prevalence among young children remains high, as 26.7 percent of children age 6-59 months are moderately or severely stunted (MoHS, 2019). Furthermore, nutrient inadequacy remains widespread. The National Nutrition Centre (NNC) in the Ministry of Health and Sports (MoHS) has identified and implemented interventions for five conditions resulting from under-nutrition: protein energy malnutrition, iron deficiency anemia, vitamin B1

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... ficiency (also known as beriberi), vitamin A deficiency, and iodine deficiency disorder (ibid, 2019). For example, recent evidence from the Myanmar Micronutrient and Food Consumption Survey (MMFCS) finds that anemia is prevalent among children and women. The survey found that 35.6 of children aged 6-59 months and 51 percent of children 5-9 years of age are anemic, as well as 30 percent of both adolescent girls (age 10-14) and women of reproductive age (age 15 to 49) (ibid, 2019). While there are multiple factors that affect nutrition outcomes, one of the underlying causes of malnutrition is a lack of adequate food of sufficient nutritional quality (IFPRI, 2015). However, in every region of the world, the cost of protein- and micronutrient-dense foods, such as animal-source foods, fruits, and vegetables, are often considerably higher than the cost of energy-dense, staple foods such as cereals (Miller et al., 2016; Headey et al., 2018). While factors other than the cost of different foods may affect dietary choices and thus nutrition outcomes, relative food costs likely play an important role in household dietary choices, especially for poorer households. In recent years, the Government of Myanmar has made important commitments to reduce malnutrition in the country, including joining the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement in 2013, joining the UN Zero Hunger Challenge in 2014, and bringing a number of ministries together in 2018 to create a Multi-sectoral National Plan of Action on Nutrition (MS-NPAN) (GoM, 2018). One goal o [...]