Abstract
ObjectiveIn Ethiopia, women’s dietary diversity is low, primarily due to poor food availability and access, both at home and market level. The present study aimed to describe market access using a new definition called market food diversity (MFD) and estimate the impact of MFD, crop and livestock diversity on dietary diversity among women enrolled in the Agriculture to Nutrition (ATONU) trial.DesignBaseline cross-sectional data collected from November 2016 to January 2017 were used for the analysis. Availability of foods in markets was assessed at the village level and categorized into nine food groups similar to the dietary diversity index for women. Bivariate and multivariate mixed-effects regression analyses were conducted, adjusted for clustering at the village level.SettingChicken-producing farmers in rural Ethiopia.ParticipantsWomen (n 2117) aged 15–49 years.resultsOverall, less than 6% of women met the minimum dietary diversity (≥5 food groups) and the most commonly consumed food groups were staples and legumes. Median MFD was 4 food groups (interquartile range: 2–8). Multivariate models indicated that women’s dietary diversity differed by livestock diversity, food crop diversity and agroecology, with significant interaction effects between agroecology and MFD.conclusionsWomen’s dietary diversity is poor in Ethiopia. Local markets are variable in food availability across seasons and agroecological zones. The MFD indicator captures this variability, and women who have access to higher MFD in the highland agroecological zone have better dietary diversity. Thus, MFD has the potential to mitigate the effects of environment on women’s dietary diversity.
Highlights
The present paper adds to the growing literature on the linkages between market, agriculture and dietary intake; in particular, we introduce a new definition of a market characteristic that captures the dynamic nature of food availability
We examine determinants both at home and in the market to estimate the relative and synergistic effects of these elements on the dietary diversity of women in Ethiopia using baseline data collected from the Agriculture to Nutrition (ATONU) trial in Ethiopia
We used a new definition of market characteristics called market food diversity to evaluate the impact of household-level factors, such as food crop diversity and livestock diversity, on women’s dietary diversity
Summary
We hypothesize that after adjusting for household wealth and demographic characteristics, food crop, livestock and market food diversity will be positively associated with dietary diversity among women. Meher-season food crop diversity, livestock diversity, TLU, cultivation of cash crops, farm size, belonging to the highest wealth quintile, living in Oromia region (compared with Amhara) and having secondary school education had significant and positive associations with women’s dietary diversity.
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