SUBSISTENCE FARMER'S PRODUCTION DIVERSITY AND MARKET ACCESS: IMPACT ON RURAL WOMEN AND CHILDREN'S DIETARY DIVERSITY

Abstract

Hunger and poverty are severe threats to developing nations like Pakistan. Rural people in developing countries are facing malnutrition and undernourishment due to low-income levels and limited access to nutritious food. Women's diets are the most crucial factor for their health and children. Increased dietary diversity is a significant approach to improving nutrition and health, and it can be enhanced by improving the production diversity among rural subsistence farming households. The study was conducted in four districts of the south Punjab region of Pakistan. Using the well-structured and pretested questionnaire, multistage stratified random sampling was employed to collect data from 600 rural households. The women's dietary diversity score, children's dietary diversity score, and production diversity score were calculated. The results indicate that women's dietary diversity is concerned with production diversity score; its interaction with market access, education, family size, and farming experience positively impacts dietary diversity. In contrast, the age of the respondent has a negative impact. The same association among factors was also observed for children's dietary diversity score. Based on the study results, it is recommended that there is a need to diversify the crops produced by small farmers, especially food crops so that they can get balanced food and not rely much on external purchases. Overall, the Government can play a crucial role by providing opportunities and facilities to grow non-conventional crops instead of conventional cash crops.