Abstract
Wild plant species are often excellent sources of micronutrients and have the potential to promote healthy living, yet they are under-exploited. Distribution of micronutrient powders as diet supplements can play an effective role in reducing micronutrient deficiencies among infants and young children. However, assessing their effects in ensuring a nutritious diet at low cost have been limited. This study assessed the impact of including wild plant species and micronutrient powders in modeled optimized lowest-cost diets for women and children in rural Kenya. Market surveys, focus group discussions in six villages and a 24-h dietary intake recall were used to collect data that were subsequently entered in the cost of diet linear programming tool to model lowest-cost nutritious diets for women and children in Turkana County, Kenya. Three wild vegetables, three wild fruits, and micronutrient powder were added to the models to assess their impact on the cost and the nutrient adequacy of the diets. A locally adapted cost optimized nutritious diet without any intervention costs between 50 and 119 Kenyan shillings (KES) daily ($0.5 to $1.2) for children between 6 and 23 months and 173 to 305 KES ($1.8 to $2.9) for women. Addition of the three wild vegetables resulted in cost reductions between 30 and 71% as well as making up for iron and zinc gaps. The micronutrient powder had an insignificant effect on diet cost and filling nutrient gaps. Edible wild plant species, specifically wild vegetables, can reduce diet costs in considerable proportions while filling nutrient gaps year-round. However, affordability of a nutritious diet remains a major challenge in Turkana County, irrespective of the wealth group.
Highlights
800 million people still suffer from hunger in terms of calorie deficiency, about 2 billion people have insufficient micronutrient intake, and overweight and obesity are on the rise, with about 2 billion adults affected worldwide
We found 56 food items on the market including six animal-sourced foods across seasons
From the focus group discussions, we discovered that households tend to eat more in the plenty season than in the lean season, and modeled diet costs are higher in the lean season
Summary
800 million people still suffer from hunger in terms of calorie deficiency, about 2 billion people have insufficient micronutrient intake, and overweight and obesity are on the rise, with about 2 billion adults affected worldwide. Out of 667 million children below the age of five, 159, 50, and 41 million are stunted, wasted, and overweight, respectively [1]. Agrobiodiversity and Micronutrient Powder on Diets malnutrition scourge with typical diets in most households lacking iron, vitamin A and zinc micronutrients [2, 3]. Turkana County (Northern Kenya) is characterized by arid and semi-arid conditions with limited agricultural activities [4] which exacerbate food and nutrition insecurity [5]. Considering the high poverty levels and its correlation with malnutrition, the reduction of diet cost is essential for households to access nutritionally adequate diets [9]
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