From harvest to hunger: Food-for-alcohol exchange as a hidden contributor to food insecurity in rural Tanzania.

Informal food-for-alcohol exchange practices are a largely overlooked contributor to food insecurity in rural sub-Saharan Africa. Using household panel data (2016-2024) and qualitative interviews from rural Tanzania, this study examines how alcohol consumption and food-for-alcohol exchanges affect household food availability and intra-household decision-making. Quantitative results show a rising prevalence of alcohol consumption, reaching 44% of households in 2024, with alcohol accounting for 8-10% of total household expenditure among consuming households. Fixed-effects estimates indicate that alcohol consumption is associated with a lower share of expenditure allocated to food and with reduced caloric intake in subsequent periods. Qualitative findings reveal that post-harvest diversion of staple foods, often through barter, prepayment, or unauthorized appropriation, reduces household food stocks and disproportionately affects women and children, particularly during the lean season. These exchanges are embedded in local social norms and gendered power relations, rendering them largely invisible in standard food security assessments. The study identifies food-for-alcohol exchange as a hidden but consequential contributor to food insecurity and highlights the importance of accounting for household consumption practices, informal exchange systems, and intra-household resource allocation in food security analysis.