The relationship between training farmers in agronomic practices and diet diversification: a case study from an intervention under the Scaling Up Nutrition programme in Zambia

Therese Mwatitha Gondwe,Mofu Musonda,Bussie Maziya-Dixon,Emmanuel Oladeji Alamu,Numeri Geresomo

doi:10.1186/s40066-017-0151-3

Abstract

BackgroundAgricultural production systems are a sustainable way of providing nutritious and diversified foods especially among rural households in developing countries. Capacity building of farmers and extension workers through training on agricultural and nutrition-related topics is one of the ways to improvements in agricultural productivity. However, a few studies have shown there is a link between training in agronomic practices and crop diversification and the effect this relationship has on diet diversity. Therefore, this study was carried out in Zambia in four districts and within those districts intervention (N = 348) areas were compared to nonintervention sites (N = 194) using an individual household questionnaire to investigate the effectiveness of training sessions that were conducted under the Most 1000 Critical Days program, the scaling up of nutrition on farm production diversity and diet diversity at household level.ResultsThe results show that there were significant differences in the proportion of farmer households that grew different types of crops (P < 0.001). The incorporation of legumes such as soybean, groundnut and beans into crop production may enrich household diets with essential macro- and micronutrients. Results further indicate that training on agronomic practices was associated with increased productivity and diversification of production and dietary intake.ConclusionThis study has shown that targeted interventions aimed at increasing food crop production and dietary diversity have the potential to improve food production and dietary diversity. These findings reinforce the premise that crop diversification has a positive correlation with diet quality. Similarly, training farmers on food production, processing and dietary diversification is critical not only in improving agronomic practices but also the diet of farmers.

Highlights

Agricultural production systems are a sustainable way of providing nutritious and diversified foods especially among rural households in developing countries
In this study, we examine the effects of training farmers in agronomic practices on crop and diet diversification in Zambia’s farming community
Our results show a strong and positive association between crop diversification and nutrition measures in the form of diet diversity

Summary

Introduction

Agricultural production systems are a sustainable way of providing nutritious and diversified foods especially among rural households in developing countries. Capacity building of farmers and extension workers through training on agricultural and nutrition-related topics is one of the ways to improvements in agricultural productivity. A few studies have shown there is a link between training in agronomic practices and crop diversification and the effect this relationship has on diet diversity. Training of farmers and extension workers on agricultural and nutrition-related topics leads to an improvement in agronomic practices among farmers [7]. Farmers that are properly trained and supported in agronomic practices tend to produce a variety of crops and realize high yields. Because of increased food diversity and availability, these farmers tend to be food secure and can diversify their diets

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