Abstract
BackgroundReduction of child undernutrition is one of the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. Achievement of this goal may be made more difficult in some settings by climate change through adverse impact on agricultural productivity. However, there is only limited quantitative evidence on the link between household crop harvests and child nutrition. We examined this link in a largely subsistence farming population in rural Burkina Faso.MethodsData on the middle-upper arm circumference (MUAC) of 975 children ≤5 years of age, household crop yields, and other parameters were obtained from the Nouna Health and Demographic Surveillance System. Multilevel modelling was used to assess the relationship between MUAC and the household crop harvest in the year 2009 estimated in terms of kilocalories per adult equivalent per day (kcal/ae/d).ResultsFourteen percent of children had a MUAC <125 mm (a value indicative of acute undernutrition). The relationship between MUAC and annual household food energy production adjusted for age, sex, month of MUAC measurement, household wealth, whether a household member had a non-agricultural occupation, garden produce, village infrastructure and market presence, suggested a decline in MUAC below around 3000 kcal/ae/d. The mean MUAC was 2.49 (95% CI 0.45, 4.52) mm less at 1000 than at 3000 kcal/ae/d.ConclusionsLow per capita household crop production is associated with poorer nutritional status of children in a rural farming population in Burkina Faso. This and similar populations may thus be vulnerable to the adverse effects of weather on agricultural harvest, especially in the context of climate change.
Highlights
Reduction of child undernutrition is one of the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030
In this paper we report a study examining the relationship between children’s nutritional status, measured by middle-upper arm circumference (MUAC), and household cereal crop production in a largely subsistence farming population of rural Burkina Faso
The study was conducted within the population of the Nouna Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) in the Kossi province of Western Burkina Faso (Fig. 1), which has been surveyed by the Centre de Recherche en Santé de Nouna (CRSN) since 1992
Summary
Reduction of child undernutrition is one of the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 Achievement of this goal may be made more difficult in some settings by climate change through adverse impact on agricultural productivity. Reducing child undernutrition and hunger is at the top of the global development agenda It is the primary objective of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) No 2 (Target 2: “by 2030 end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving by 2025 the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under five years of age [..]” [1]) and is reflected in the policy agendas of many development agencies [2]. Such populations have potential vulnerability in relation to at least three of the four pillars of food security: food availability, access, and stability
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