The impact of migration on food consumption patterns: The case of Vietnam

► Short-term migration has a positive effect on overall per capita food expenditures, per capita calorie consumption and food diversity. ► Unlike short-term migration, there is minimal evidence of long-term migration increasing per capita calorie consumption and no evidence of a broader increase in per capita food expenditures or food diversity. ► The analysis provides support for the view that short-term migration is a mechanism by which households maintain food security. ► The lack of negative effects on sending households suggests little need for government intervention to provide particular support to migrant households. ► The lack of a remittance effect in the long run may point toward policies to facilitate such flows, particularly if sending regions tend to be worse off than destinations.