Abstract
BackgroundThe number of undernourished people and the risk of micro-nutrient deficiency remain high in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Decades of policy designed to reverse the trends of food insecurity have illustrated that the causal pathways of intervention to end-point outcomes, such as nutrition, are not necessarily straightforward. Utilising proxies for dimensions of food security, this study investigates the relative importance of different pathways to food security in two subtly contrasting communities in the Sahelian and Sudanian Savanna zones of Burkina Faso.ResultsIn Yatenga province, approximately 31% of households were classified as ‘severely food insecure’ in the ‘lean’ period. In contrast, over 84% of households sampled in Seno province were classified as being ‘severely food insecure’ in the ‘lean’ period. There were statistically significant associations between food security indicators and off-farm income, farm income and production diversity. The source of income had significantly different associations with diet diversity in the two provinces. In Yatenga province, higher gross farm income in the absence of off-farm income was predicted to result in more diverse diets; in Seno province, however, gross farm income was only predicted to result in more diverse diets when households are also earning off-farm income.ConclusionsOur analysis shows that households were most differentiated by income generating pathways to food security in the ‘lean’ period. This finding should not detract from the essential role played by home-produced foods in improving food security. Rather, market-orientated agriculture and production for home consumption, as shown by households in this study, can be combined as part of a more resilient livelihood strategy. Policy needs to be targeted towards agro-ecological conditions, as well as socioeconomic factors in order to facilitate improved on-farm income, farm resilience and off-farm employment opportunities.
Highlights
The number of undernourished people and the risk of micro-nutrient deficiency remain high in subSaharan Africa (SSA)
To avoid the loss of information associated with composite indicators, we focus on one dimension of food security—food access— integrating multiple indicators in discussion
Diet diversity was disaggregated by channel of access to better understand food sourcing behaviour. With this approach we address the questions of: (a) what are the differentiating attributes of more food secure households, and (b) what are the roles of subsistence and food purchases in improving access to sufficient and diverse nutrition? This study, contributes to the discussion of the drivers of food security of access, using a methodology that accounts for the temporal variability throughout the year
Summary
The number of undernourished people and the risk of micro-nutrient deficiency remain high in subSaharan Africa (SSA). Decades of policy designed to reverse the trends of food insecurity have illustrated that the causal pathways of intervention to end-point outcomes, such as nutrition, are not necessarily straightforward. The prevalence of chronic undernourishment in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has almost returned to 2005 levels (24% of the Fraval et al Agric & Food Secur (2020) 9:2 borne disproportionately by the rural population, indicated by the consistently higher prevalence of stunting in rural SSA [3]— those in the Sahel, such as northern Burkina Faso [4]. A greater understanding of these pathways is needed, given the UN’s ambitious target of ‘zero hunger’ by 2030 (as part of the Sustainable Development Goals) within the context of stagnating aid flows [12], the low levels of research and development spending in SSA [13] and the food system transformations taking place across SSA [14,15,16,17]
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