Household Dietary Diversity Research Articles

Can farmer organization membership improve household food security and nutrition? Evidence from Northern Ghana

AbstractWe examine the impact of farmer organization (FO) membership on food and nutrition security among rural rice farmers, using cross‐sectional data from a household survey from Ghana. We employ an endogenous switching regression (ESR) model to account for selection bias from observed and unobserved factors. Our findings show that participation in FOs significantly increases household dietary diversity by 10.56% and reduces food insecurity by 9.7%. The residualized quantile regression model results are consistent with the ESR model across both outcome variables. Policymakers should consider promoting FO membership as a strategy to enhance food and nutrition security among smallholders in developing countries.

Spatial Analysis of Food Crop Diversification in Busia County-Kenya: Implications on Household Food Security

Food insecurity is a major problem in Busia County as studies show that 54 percent of households face food insufficiency and child malnutrition. This problem is compounded by small land holdings per household, with just 155,990 acres under food crops. Studies that have been done in the County to show the major food crops that are cultivated, however, no single one has been done showing the variations of these food crops within regions, while it is well known that diversity in terms of space has a bearing in food security at household level. This research sought to find out how food crops are diversified within space and its implications on household food security. Mixed design approach was used (descriptive and correlational). Nine research assistants were involved to collect data in the cropping season using interview schedules and observation schedules. Primary data was collected in one cropping season using interview and observation schedules. Gibbs and Martins Index of crop diversification was applied to determine crop diversification. Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) was used to determine food security status. Multi-stage mixed sampling techniques involving purposive, simple random stratified proportionate was used. Qualitative data was used to address research questions while quantitative data addressed the hypotheses. The results showed that there was a wide range of food crops grown in the County with cereals taking the largest portion while oils and miscellaneous crops had the lowest acreage. The study further revealed that Busia County had household food security index of 3.52 in the range of 1 to 6. It also found no statistically significant difference in regional diversification of food crops (p= .126). Finally, it revealed a very low negative correlation (r= -.080) with an insignificant relationship (p= .13) between crop diversification and household food security.

The effect of total factor productivity on the food security and livelihood vulnerability of farm households in Bangladesh

Food security and livelihood vulnerability are important issues for the economic sustainability of developing countries like Bangladesh. This study examines the influence of total factor productivity (TFP) on the livelihood vulnerability and food security of rice farming households in Bangladesh. Data from 1,841 rice farming households were extracted from the Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey (2015 and 2018) conducted by the International Food Policy Research Institute. Various statistical methods, such as the stochastic frontier model, principal component analysis, path analysis using structural equation modeling, and multivariate regression, were employed to analyze the data. The study utilizes a multivariate modeling approach that combines the stochastic frontier model to determine TFP and sophisticated methodologies to estimate the livelihood vulnerability index (LVI) and women’s empowerment in agriculture index (WEAI). The LVI, household dietary diversity Score (HDDS), TFP, and WEAI scores were 0.454, 10.72, 0.703, and 0.717, respectively. The results indicate a significant relationship between TFP and both LVI and HDDS. Higher TFP is associated with lower LVI and higher HDDS among rice farming households, suggesting that improving TFP can enhance food security and reduce vulnerability. The multivariate regression analysis reveals that TFP, household wealth index, women’s empowerment in agriculture index, per capita food expenditure, household level welfare, and household size have a positive significant impact on HDDS, while TFP is negatively associated with LVI, per capita food expenditure and household size. The findings underscore the importance of increasing TFP to improve food security, reduce livelihood vulnerability, and achieve sustainable development goals in countries like Bangladesh. Higher TFP yields positive outcomes regarding household dietary diversity and livelihood vulnerability, highlighting the need for agricultural policies that prioritize TFP enhancement. Policymakers and professionals can use these findings as a roadmap to implement advanced agricultural policies to achieve food security and reduce livelihood vulnerability. Improving household dietary diversity and reducing livelihood vulnerability can be achieved by focusing on increasing TFP, enhancing household wealth, women’s empowerment, per capita food expenditure, household welfare, and household size. Therefore, increasing TFP should be considered in the design of policies aiming to achieve SDGs Goal 2.

A comprehensive analysis of food insecurity in the drought-prone rural areas of Tigray.

The number of globally food-insecure people is increasing since 2017. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest proportion of severely food-insecure people in the world. Tigray region of Ethiopia is one of the food-insecure regions, which, over the past many decades has been affected by recurrent food insecurities. In the drought-prone rural areas of Tigray, many people are living under the condition of chronic hunger. Proper food security studies are vital for proper intervention mechanisms. Yet, previous food security studies have rarely addressed the four pillars of food security: availability, access, utilization, and stability. In this study, all components are duly considered to assess the food insecurity status in the drought-prone rural areas of Tigray, Ethiopia. Of the 34 rural districts in Tigray, 363 households from three drought-prone rural districts were studied. Household Food Insecurity Access Scale and Food Insecurity Experience Scale were adapted to measure the food availability, access to food, and stability components of food security; and, Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS), Food Consumption Score (FCS), mid-upper arm circumference, and Bitot's spot were used to analyze the food utilization aspect. Findings show that 68% of the studied community frequently ate less food than they felt they needed and 82.1% of the households have experienced hunger because of lack of food. The study rural districts were unconnected to road networks; hence, 87.9% of the elderly and 20.4% of the women and girls had no access to food markets. Regarding the food utilization, 81.5% of the studied households had poor FCS; and the average HDDS and FCS for the study areas were 2.47 and 18.9, respectively. The prevalence of Global acute malnutrition, severe acute malnutrition (SAM), and moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) for 6-59months of age children in the study areas were 50.3, 4.2, and 46.1%, respectively. More notably, the prevalence of SAM for children from the food-insecure households was 21.2%. The prevalence of MAM for pregnant and lactating women (PLW) in the study areas was 59.5. Further, the prevalence of Bitot's spot among 6-59months of age children was 1.9%. On the other hand, all the rural households had anxiety about their future food demands. The rural households living in the studied areas were critically food-insecure. All the measurements implied that the food insecurity situation in the study areas was unacceptably worrisome and life-threatening. This calls for an instant action to avert the occurrence of famine and starvation in the drought-prone rural areas of Tigray region. Thus, interventions should primarily target the vulnerable rural people and need to be planned based on attaining food availability first rather than concurrently addressing all components of food security. Further, due emphasis should be given to diversifying livelihood strategies of the vulnerable villagers.

Does government food demonstration interventioninfluence household dietary diversity in the Upper West Region of Ghana?

Dietary diversity is crucial in ensuring food and nutrition security. In low-middle-income countries, people frequently prioritize the quantity of food they consume over its quality due to a lack of availability and financial limitations. As a result, achieving dietary diversity is often overlooked in favor of ensuring adequate caloric intake. Through a social cognitive theory perspective, our study examines the relationship between food demonstrations and household dietary diversity in Ghana's Upper West Region utilizing cross-sectional survey data from 517 smallholder farmer households. The results from ordered logistic regression presented in odds ratio (OR) show that participating in food demonstrations (OR: 2.585, p<0.01), engaging in home gardening (OR: 1.932, p<0.001), having access to credit (OR: 1.609, p<0.01), self-rated good nutritional status (OR: 1.747, p<0.01), and Waala ethnicity (OR: 3.686, p<0.001) were all positively associated with high household dietary diversity. Conversely, living in the Wa West district was associated with lower dietary diversity (OR: 0.326, p<0.001). Our research findings suggest that policymakers may want to consider implementing community-based educational programs, such as home and school visits for food demonstrations and sensitizations, promoting mother-to-mother support groups for dietary diversity education, nutrition counseling services, and using role-play and local media. In addition, strengthening local agricultural policies through food banks, indigenous seed development, and mobile food markets and enhancing public-private partnerships like the Ghana Schools Feeding Programme and National Food Buffer Stock company could improve the supply chain and distribution networks for diverse food items. Implementing these interventions in the Upper West Region of Ghana could improve health, well-being, food security, and nutritional outcomes.

Agroecosystem-based analysis of household dietary diversity and its linkage with agricultural production diversification in the Upper Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia: Multilevel analysis approach

Even though the UN's Sustainable Development Goals emphasize improving dietary diversity and overall nutritional status globally by promoting sustainable agriculture, inadequately diversified dietary intake remains a public health problem in many low-income countries, including in Sub-Saharan Africa. The main objective of this study was to gather relevant information to gain an improved understanding of household dietary diversity and explore the role that production diversification could play within household diets and nutrition so that appropriate interventions could be implemented with the goal of enhancing nutrition-sensitive agriculture while also considering the varied features across the agroecosystems. Agroecosystem-based cross-sectional study design was employed. Data were collected predominantly through semi-structured questionnaires and analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics, and a multilevel mixed-effect model. Results showed that the usual dietary intake of households has a monotonous pattern dominated by starchy staple foods, and consumption of fruits, vegetables, and animal-sourced foods was very limited. One out of five households had inadequate dietary diversity but varied significantly across agroecosystems. About 26% of the heterogeneity in dietary diversity was attributed due to agroecosystem level factors. In the fixed-effect part of the model, production diversification, wealth status, number of meals per day, market access, and annual mean rainfall were significantly associated with household dietary diversity status. The findings of our research contribute to give insights on the linkage between dietary diversity and production diversification among subsistence rural farmers across contrasting agroecosystem zones. Therefore, understanding agroecosystem variations and local context in the rural subsistence farming setup is a key point in designing nutrition-sensitive agriculture.

Food insecurity and dietary diversity among food aid recipients in urban and rural areas at the covid‐19 outbreak: An exploratory study

AbstractThe covid‐19 pandemic has affected food aid. This paper reports an exploratory study to estimate the prevalence and degree of food insecurity, household dietary diversity score (HDDS), and the association with demographic, social, and economic characteristics of health status in a sample of food aid recipients in urban and rural areas of Catalonia, Spain. Cross‐sectional data on food insecurity, dietary diversity, household income, health, and sociodemographic characteristics were obtained from the survey taken at seven different food aid distribution points from urban and rural locations. Sixty‐six percent of the participants identified as new users since the covid‐19 crisis. Only 12.5% of the sample lived in households where all adults were unemployed, and 44.8% were employed. Almost a third of the sample (32.3%) reported having someone in their household who suffered from a diet‐related illness or disease. The prevalence of severe food insecurity was 52.1%, followed by 28.1% suffering moderate food insecurity. New food aid users due to covid‐19 pandemic showed a significantly higher prevalence of food insecurity. No significant differences were found in terms of HDDS. This paper provides evidence that much of the gap in food insecurity is related to dietary diversity and children in households considering different urban or rural areas.

Assessment of Indigenous Hill People of Meghalaya, India regarding Household Food Access

Background: While the broad issue of food security has generally received attention of the researchers, the particularities in hills and mountains has remained neglected. Thus, to provide some insights on food insecurity regarding mountain specificities, the current study aims to evaluate household food access of indigenous hill people in Meghalaya, India. Methods: Food access is a measure of household’s ability to acquire available food over a given period. In the current study, a sample of 900 people from indigenous population were randomly selected from rural Khasi, Garo and Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya. Household food access was explored with the following indicators: household wealth and income; household dietary diversity score (HDDS), and food consumption score (FCS). Data collection was done during December, 2019 to September, 2020. Results: The sample households are characterised by the predominance of marginal farmers (93% to 97%). Most of them were in the category of borderline food security with the FCS of between 21.5 to 35.0. Starchy staples were considered the main component of their diet. Their dietary diversity was significantly correlated with income (correlation coefficient=0.22) and wealth (correlation coefficient=0.38) at 0.01 level of significance. Conclusion: As dietary diversity at household is related to income and wealth, scarcity of income and wealth regarding indigenous hill population was an obvious reason for poor dietary diversity and the resultant poor dietary quality at the household level. To increase local food production and improve dietary diversity of indigenous hill people, revitalizing and strengthening local food systems is of great significance.

Circular bioeconomy practices and their associations with household food security in four RUNRES African city regions

Achieving the United Nation’s 2030 agenda which aims, among other goals, to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns, requires a sustainable resource use model deployed at scale across global food systems. A circular bioeconomy (CBE) model of resource use has been proposed to reuse of organic waste in agricultural production to enhance food security. However, despite several initiatives recently introduced towards establishing a CBE in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), minimal scientific efforts have been dedicated to understanding the association of CBE practices and food security. This study use data from 777 smallholder farm households from DRC, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and South Africa, to examine associations between three CBE practices (use of organic waste as compost, as livestock feed, and sorting waste) and household food security. Using different regression and propensity score matching models (PSM). Result reveal that using CBE practices more likely adds a 0.203 score of food insecurity access prevalence (HFIAP), 1.283 food insecurity access scale (HFIAS-score) and 0.277 for household dietary diversity score (HDDS) among households using CBE practiced groups. Associations regarding using organic waste as compost are generally positive but insignificant, while those with sorting waste are significantly and consistently negative. Thus, CBE innovations aiming to enhance household food security could prioritize organic waste valorization into livestock feed consider socio economic aspects such as access to land, access to market, education level, using mobile phone, income and city regions where interventions took place. However, prior sorting of waste is necessary to enable effective waste valorization.

The effect of carbon farming training on food security and development resilience in Northern Ghana

ABSTRACT Carbon farming has recently been advocated for as climate change and variability mitigation and/or adaptation strategy in global agriculture. In this study, we address an important research question of whether carbon farming training can improve household resilience capacity as well as food security by employing internationally standardized indicators. Household resilience capacity and its components are measured using the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)’s resilience capacity index while the food security measures used include household and child food insecurity experience scale (FIES and CFIES), food consumption score (FCS) and household dietary diversity score (HDDS). We relied on doubly robust treatment effect estimators to account for potential selection bias and heterogeneity. We find that carbon farming training has no statistically significant effect on overall household resilience capacity. However, we find a large and statistically significant effect on key components of resilience (specifically, access to basic services, assets and social safety nets) and a marginal improvement in adaptive capacity. We also find statistically significant effect on FCS and HDDS but not for the other food security indicators (FIES and CFIES). Overall, the results suggest that agricultural training programs, particularly climate change adaptation capacity building initiatives, could improve important welfare measures in developing countries.

Unlocking gender dynamics in food and nutrition security in Ghana: assessing dietary diversity, food security, and crop diversification among cocoa household heads in the Juaboso-Bia cocoa landscape.

Malnutrition is a worldwide problem that impacts every country, affecting one in three individuals, including Ghana. According to estimates from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 690million people were undernourished globally in 2019. Malnutrition is no exception in rural cocoa communities in Ghana. The expansion of cocoa is causing food insecurity and low dietary diversity in most cocoa-growing areas. There is little information on the food security status and dietary diversity among male-headed and female-headed cocoa households in the Juaboso-Bia cocoa landscape. Thus, this study sought to explore the dietary diversity distribution, food security status, sources of staple food, food unavailability periods, food production status, themes contributing to low dietary diversity and food insecurity, and perception of the impact of cocoa expansion on crop diversification among male-headed and female-headed cocoa households in the study area. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were employed to address the research questions. The study collected 200 semi-structured questionnaire data and 14 in-depth interview data from cocoa household heads in the Juaboso-Bia landscape. The survey data was cleaned and analysis, such as household dietary diversity status, food security status, and binary logistic regression were performed in the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS). The in-depth interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. Through this study, it was revealed that 62.8% of the male-headed cocoa households had medium to high dietary diversity compared to their female counterparts 39.3%. About 47.9% of the male-headed households were food secure than the female-headed households (29.1%). Moreover, the months that both male and female-headed households recalled facing severe food unavailability were July and June. In addition, climate change/variability, unavailable lands, poverty, large household size, and gender stereotypes were themes promoting low dietary diversity and food insecurity among male and female-headed households. Furthermore, sex, total household income, and cropland conversion to cocoa were the variables influencing household heads' perception of the impact of cocoa expansion on crop diversification. The study showed that the male-headed cocoa households had high dietary diversity and were food secure than the female-headed cocoa households, lending credence to the conceptual framework applied in this study. There is a significant relationship between household head gender and food security status. Therefore, this study recommends the following interventions to improve dietary diversity and food security among male and female-headed cocoa households: raise awareness about the need for diverse diets and provide practical information on how to incorporate a greater variety of food groups into their daily meals; and promote gender equity and inclusivity in food security interventions. Future research could investigate how gender mainstreaming policies in agriculture have helped empower and improve the food security of female-headed households in Ghana.

Does productive safety net program enhance livelihoods? Insights from vulnerable households in Wolaita zone, Ethiopia.

The impact of Productive Safety Net Programs (PSNPs) on food security, poverty, and livelihoods has been examined in several studies. While some studies found positive impacts on food security and agricultural productivity, there are still gaps in understanding the long-term effects of these programs on poverty reduction and food security. This study aims to investigate the impact of PSNP on the livelihood of beneficiaries based on indicators including access to basic services, income, expenditure on food, adaptive capacity, and dietary diversity. This article used quasi-experimental design and treatment effects model taking into account access to basic services, income, food expenditure, assets, adaptive capacity, and household dietary diversity as outcome variables of interest. 300 respondents were randomly selected from the population of safety net beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries in the study area. Out of the 300 respondents, 150 were selected as the treatment group, who were beneficiaries of the safety net program. The algorithms used in analysis include regression adjustment, inverse probability weighing and propensity score matching. The study's results reveal that the PSNP has no statistically significant impact on access to basic services and income based on all three algorithms, yet it does show a significant and negative effect on food expenditure and assets. The coefficients across all three models consistently demonstrate this negative impact, underscoring its statistical significance at the conventional significance level (p = 0.05). This suggests that the PSNP leads to a reduction in food expenditure. Furthermore, the analysis highlights substantial differences between PSNP members and non-members across all three variables, with non-members having higher mean values for assets. This difference is statistically significant at the 1% level, suggesting that membership in the PSNP has a tangible impact on asset ownership. The study's mixed findings emphasize the complexities of designing effective social protection programs that can adequately address the multifaceted nature of poverty.

Pathways and policy options for food and nutrition gaps in arid agricultural farming systems in the Tigray Region, north Ethiopia

Food and nutrition security is a major global challenge especially indeveloping countries.Agriculture is main means of livelihoods and hunger is drastically increasing from time to time especially due to effects of climate change, conflict and other manmade and natural calamities in these countries. Similarly, the Tigray Region is one of the Ethiopia's most food and nutrition insecure regions with agriculture serving as the main source of income and employment. This study was therefore conducted to fill the gap in understanding the socioeconomic situation, bio-physical environment, institutional setting and policy landscape by analysing the existing circumstances in Tigray Region. This research employed quantitative data sets collected from 300 randomely selected Productive Saftey Net Program (PSNP) beneficiarieries and Non-PSNP households using probability proportional to size. The Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) used as a proxy measure to nutrition security as our data is 24 h recall and food gap months as proxy to food security. Besides, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method is used to construct household asset index. The results of the study revealed that there are clear and significant differences of the PSNP and Non-PSNP households, and gender in land holding (p<0.01%), asset ownership(p<0.01%), food gap months(p<0.01%), dietary diversity(p<0.01%), exposure to hazards and risks, copping strategies, yield, access to agricultural extension services, access to improved varieties (varietal diversification). The male headed households, and Non-PSNP households are better off than the female headed and PSNP households' counterparts. Thus, provision of practical training, conducting farmer's participatory research, field days, promoting and creating access to farmers' preferred high yielding improved varieties and management practices available in the research and extension consortium, support in research and development that develops and disseminate appropriate technologies to help farmers to lower their food gap months is highly important. In addition, sustainable intensification, off-farm employment alternatives, and engaging in agribusiness activities that create resilient livelihood options to those resource poor farm households, strengthening the formal and informal seed system would help to reduce food gap months, improve HDDS, build resilience of the food and nutrition insecure households. Therefore, customized extension services and packages are important for addressing the food and nutrition security gaps by setting goal, outcome and output indicators for future interventions in the research and development arena in filling food gap months, dietary diversity and household asset building through collaboration among relevant stakeholders in the food system.

Food safety and dietary diversity in African urban cities: evidence from Ghana

BackgroundFood safety is integral to food security and is increasingly becoming a significant concern in the urban areas of Africa, which are rapidly growing in population. In the case of Ghana, many urban households depend on traditional open-air markets for most of their food needs. However, these urban food markets also depend on domestic food supply chains, which are prone to risks, including poor hygiene and sanitation and weather seasonality. Food safety compliance has associated costs which increase the unit cost of food products. Thus, higher food price is a risk factor to food availability and accessibility—fundamental pillars of food security.MethodWe use food microbial data and food retail data from food market surveys in major cities in Ghana to assess the safety of selected fresh food commodities and how retailers handle the food products they sell. Additionally, based on a two-wave balanced panel household data, we used fixed effects Poisson and Correlated Random Effects (CRE) Probit models to estimate the effect of weather seasonality on the incidence of diarrhoea and urban household dietary diversity score (HDDS). A final sample of 609 households and 565 market respondents participated in the study.ResultsOur findings show that selected food samples tested positive for Staphylococcus aureus and E.coli and had aflatoxin B1 levels above 5.0 ppb. Additionally, the household incidence of diarrhoea/vomiting, a proxy for food safety status, is higher in the dry season. In the dry season, the household incidence of diarrhoea/vomiting increases on average by a probability of 38% points compared to the rainy season. Regarding HDDS, the average HDDS is 7.3; however, we did not find the effect of seasonality on HDDS to be significant.ConclusionsAlthough urban food availability and household dietary diversity are not challenges for many urban households, food safety is a challenge in the major food markets in Ghanaian cities and is associated with weather seasonality. Foods available in traditional open-air markets are not always safe for consumption, undermining households’ food security. Weak enforcement of food safety regulations contributes to the food safety challenges in Ghanaian urban food markets.

A systematic review of dietary data collection methodologies for diet diversity indicators.

The purpose of the current study was to critically assess the gaps in the existing methodologies of dietary data collection for diet diversity indicators. The study proposed the importance of smartphone application to overcome the drawbacks. The review paper identified and assessed the conventional methodologies used in diet diversity indicators including Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women (MDD-W), Minimum Dietary Diversity of Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices (IYCF-MDD), and Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS). The 80 research studies from 38 countries were critically assessed on the basis of their research aim, study design, target audience, dietary data collection methodology, sample size, dietary data type, dietary data collection frequency, and location point of dietary data collection. Results indicated that most studies employed interviewer-administered 24-h recall assessing the dietary diversity. The review paper concluded that smartphone application had potential to overcome the identified limitations of conventional methodologies including recall bias, social-desirability bias, interviewer training, and cost-time constraints.

Smoothing consumption in times of illness: Household recourse mechanisms.

We study the welfare impacts of illness shocks on rural agricultural households in the semi-arid tropical and humid eastern regions of India. These regions are characterized by rainfed agriculture, missing markets for credit and insurance, and limited access to publicly funded healthcare infrastructure. We find that illness shocks increase households' medical expenditures and reduce wage income. However, aggregate non-medical, food, and non-food consumption expenditures are insensitive to illness shocks. Disaggregating illness by the age and the gender of the household members, we observe that illness in male children leads to the largest increase in medical expenditure, and illness in prime-aged adults leads to the largest decline in per-capita wage earnings. We also find illness shocks leading to changes in household dietary diversity, higher travel expenditures, and a compensating reduction in spending on education and entertainment. Analysis of risk-coping strategies reveals that households rely on transfers from kinship networks and loans from informal sources like local moneylenders to smooth consumption. While large landowners rely on gifts from kinship networks, landless and smallholders increase borrowings from informal sources.

Enhancing dietary diversity and food security through the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices in Nigeria: a micro level evidence

AbstractThe paranoid belief that climate change will gradually reduce the ability of the world to meet the demand for food serves as the rationale for Nigerian smallholder farmers’ advocacy of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) techniques. The study investigates the effects of CSA practice on the food security status of rural farming households in Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed in selecting 480 rural farming households across three selected states from Southwest, Nigeria. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Obtained results showed that 59.79% of the respondents were food insecure while severe and depth of food insecure among the farming households were 0.0711 and 0.1913 respectively. The result of the household dietary diversity score revealed the diverse consumption-ability of the respondents and the contributions of CSA practice in their farming system. This implies that households engaged in climate-smart farming are more likely to achieve higher levels of food consumption score, dietary diversity, and food security. The probit regression revealed that the food security status among rural farming households was significantly influenced by household heads’ gender, farm size, and contact with extension agents as well as adopted CSA practices such as crop diversification, agroforestry, and use of Fadama land for agricultural activities. This research concludes that CSA lowered the probability of food insecurity among rural farming households in Nigeria. Accordingly, the study suggests that the government and the key players should encourage the use of CSA practices in order to ensure agricultural sustainability and food security in agrarian communities by reducing the impact of climate change.

A Gendered Perspective on Household Dietary Diversity Status in Mbinga District, Tanzania

Introduction: This study examines household dietary diversity in Mbinga District, Tanzania, focusing on under-fives, examining sources of household food, gender relations, and differences in dietary scores among female-headed and male-headed households.&#x0D; Methodology: The study adopted a cross sectional research design where by a total of 150 heads of households whose children aged 0 - 59 months were assessed. A structured questionnaire and interview checklist were administered to collect data from heads of the households and key informants respectively. Data were coded and analysed by Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) programme and STATA. An Independent two-sample t-test was used to differentiate the sources of household food and status of dietary diversity between the female-headed and male-headed households.&#x0D; Results: Out of 150 households, 74% secure food from farm harvests, 26% rely on purchase, and starchy staple foods are the most consumed, while poultry, milk, dairy, and flesh foods are least consumed. Cereals, roots, and tubers were the most common staple foods in the studied community, and they had the highest score of 98.7%, whereas poultry products scored 3.3%. The independent sample t-test revealed that, there was a significant difference in the consumption score of flesh foods in male-headed households (M = 4.39, SD = 1.74), and female-headed households (M = 1.26, SD = 0.44); t = 5.28, p = 0.000. Similarly, there was a significant difference in the consumption score of poultry products in female-headed households (M = 2.65, SD = 0.44), and male-headed households (M = 5.26, SD = 1.71); t = 6.34, p = 0.000. Moreover, a significant difference in the consumption of milk and dairy products such as chicken and eggs was found in female-headed households (M = 1.54, SD = 0.30) and male-headed households (M = 4.54, SD = 1.80) (t = 2.014, p = 0.010).&#x0D; Conclusion and Recommendations: The study comes to the conclusion that, in the Mbinga District, there are variations in the dietary diversity of households according to household headship. Female-headed households had low dietary diversity as compared to male-headed households. The primary food source for households was the harvest from farms, with male-headed households making up the majority of purchases due to their relative economic wellness compared to female-headed households. As a result, nutritional diversity in households varied according to family headship. The Tanzanian government should develop gender-responsive sensitization programs to ensure equal access to food, resources, education, and economic opportunities for both men and women. Addressing insufficient household dietary diversity requires collecting and integrating data on national food security and nutrition statistics, fostering collaboration, and empowering unprivileged women. Additionally, the Tanzania Social Action Fund should support female-headed households, particularly those with abandoned male heads.

Wild Foods Are Positively Associated with Diet Diversity and Child Growth in a Protected Forest Area of Madagascar

BackgroundConcurrent losses in biodiversity and human dietary diversity are evident in Madagascar and across many food systems globally. Wild food harvest can mitigate nutrition insecurities but may also pose species conservation concerns. ObjectivesThis study aimed to examine the association of wild plant and animal species consumption during hunger season with diet diversity and child growth near the Alandraza-Agnalavelo protected forest in Southwestern Madagascar. Second, we studied the conservation status of the consumed wild plants. MethodsMethods from public health nutrition (24-h recall dietary intake, anthropometry using World Health Organization [WHO] Growth Standards), ethnobotany, and forest ecology (ecologic studies of abundance, habitat preference, associated species, food chemistry assays, and species richness) were applied. ResultsMalnutrition in children (n = 305) was highly prevalent: stunting (32.3%); wasting (18.8%); and low-dietary diversity (4% meeting WHO minimum dietary diversity threshold). Animal foods were consumed in small quantities, providing <10% of Dietary Reference Intakes for all limiting nutrients. Twenty-two wild plant species were consumed during hunger season, prominently tubers (Dioscoreaceae), and leafy greens (Asteraceae, Blechnaceae, Portulacaceae, and Solanaceae). Eight of the 9 target species were identified as abundant and “Least Concern,” whereas Amorphophollus taurostigma was abundant and “Vulnerable.” Regression modeling showed wild food consumption was associated with an increased household dietary diversity score [β = 0.29 (0.06 standard error); P < 0.001], and total wild animal foods positively correlated with height-for-age Z score [β = 0.14 (0.07 standard error); P = 0.04]. ConclusionsWild plant and animal foods may be an important element of food systems to support human nutrition while maintaining ecosystem viability.

Benefits of farmer managed natural regeneration to food security in semi-arid Ghana

Promoting Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) aims to increase the productive capacities of farmer households. Under FMNR, farmers select and manage natural regeneration on farmlands and keep them under production. While FMNR contributes to the wealth of farming communities, its contribution to household food security has rarely been researched. We, therefore, used a mixed-methods approach to address the research gap by measuring FMNR’s contribution to food security among farmer households in the Talensi district of Ghana. We adopted the Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) and Food Consumption Score (FCS) to estimate food security status among 243 FMNR farmer households and 243 non-FMNR farmer households. Also, we performed a Chi-square test of independence to compare the frequency of each food group (present vs not present) between FMNR adopters and non-FMNR adopters to establish the relationship between adopting FMNR and consuming the FCS and HDDS food groups. Our results reveal that FMNR farmer households are more food secure than non-FMNR farmer households. The HHDS of the FMNR farmer households was 9.6, which is higher than the target value of 9.1. Conversely, the HHDS of the non-FMNR farmer households was 4.3, which is lower than the target value of 9.1. Up to 86% and 37% of the FMNR farmer households and non-FMNR farmer households fell within acceptable FCS; 15% and 17% of FMNR farmer households and non-FMNR farmer households fell within borderline FCS. While none of the FMNR farmer households fell within poor FCS, 46% of non-FMNR farmer households fell within poor FCS. Adopting FMNR is significantly related to consuming all food groups promoted and benefiting from FMNR practices. The paper recommends enabling farmers in semi-arid environments to practice and invest in FMNR for long-term returns to food security.