Data from a nationally representative household survey in 1996 are used to describe the nutritional status of the rural and urban populations. The indicators examined are the per capita availabilities of calories and protein, the energy density of the diet, the standardised height of young children and the body-mass index of adults. Multivariate analysis shows that nutrient availability rises by between four and seven percent for every ten percent increase in household economic resources, suggesting that economic growth can have beneficial effects on nutrition. The response of nutrients to increased household resources is highest in the rural sector and is higher for protein than for calories. The hypothesis that rural households oriented towards tree crop production have lower nutrient availability than do households oriented towards food crop production is not strongly supported. In contrast to the direct effects of (especially mother’s)
education on children’s heights, educational effects on nutrient availability work mainly through raising household incomes. A basic constraint on raising household incomes, and on improving health and nutrition status, is lack of access to public services.