Food Access Deficiencies in Sub-saharan Africa: Prevalence and Implications for Agricultural Interventions
Our understanding of food security in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has been hampered by limitations in the temporal and spatial representativeness of data. Food balance sheets provide scalable estimates of per capita food availability, but fail to represent food access, stability and their causal linkag...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2019-11-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00104/full |
| _version_ | 1819102061174718464 |
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| author | Simon Fraval Simon Fraval James Hammond Jessica R. Bogard Mary Ng'endo Jacob van Etten Mario Herrero Simon J. Oosting Imke J. M. de Boer Mats Lannerstad Nils Teufel Christine Lamanna Todd S. Rosenstock Tim Pagella Bernard Vanlauwe Paul M. Dontsop-Nguezet David Baines Pietro Carpena Paulin Njingulula Christopher Okafor Jannike Wichern Augustine Ayantunde Caroline Bosire Sabrina Chesterman Esther Kihoro Elizaphan J. O. Rao Tom Skirrow Jonathan Steinke Clare M. Stirling Viviane Yameogo Mark T. van Wijk |
| author_facet | Simon Fraval Simon Fraval James Hammond Jessica R. Bogard Mary Ng'endo Jacob van Etten Mario Herrero Simon J. Oosting Imke J. M. de Boer Mats Lannerstad Nils Teufel Christine Lamanna Todd S. Rosenstock Tim Pagella Bernard Vanlauwe Paul M. Dontsop-Nguezet David Baines Pietro Carpena Paulin Njingulula Christopher Okafor Jannike Wichern Augustine Ayantunde Caroline Bosire Sabrina Chesterman Esther Kihoro Elizaphan J. O. Rao Tom Skirrow Jonathan Steinke Clare M. Stirling Viviane Yameogo Mark T. van Wijk |
| author_sort | Simon Fraval |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Our understanding of food security in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has been hampered by limitations in the temporal and spatial representativeness of data. Food balance sheets provide scalable estimates of per capita food availability, but fail to represent food access, stability and their causal linkages. In contrast, rural household surveys represent detailed conditions for one or multiple points in time, but are influenced by survey timing and are often limited in geographical coverage. This study draws on a large sample of rural land-holding households in SSA (n = 6,353) to identify household level food access deficiencies and to understand the associations with rural livelihoods and food sourcing behavior throughout the year. Food access deficiencies were identified using food security of access and diet diversity indicators. Dietary diversity and channel of access (farm or purchased) were enumerated for the “flush” and “lean” periods and food security of access was enumerated for the lean period only - making the results of this study independent of survey timing. As many as 39% of households were classified as severely food insecure (in terms of food access) and as many as 49% of households were likely to be deficient in micronutrients in the lean period. Vulnerability to food insecurity and micronutrient deficiencies differed by household composition, agricultural livelihood characteristics and agro-ecological zone. Dairy, fruit and vitamin A-rich produce were predominantly accessed through the farm channel. Households with a livestock component to their farm had a lower prevalence of severe food insecurity and higher diet diversity scores. These findings have implications for the development of nutrition-sensitive and nutrition-specific interventions. Interventions need to be tailored to agro-ecological zone, household composition, scale of operation and production mix. Increasing income will not necessarily result in improved diet diversity or healthy dietary choices. Interventions focused on income generation should monitor and promote crop and livestock production diversity and provide nutrition education. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T01:28:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e4db07deb65a4954ad5a622c1a728eca |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2571-581X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T01:28:34Z |
| publishDate | 2019-11-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems |
| spelling | doaj.art-e4db07deb65a4954ad5a622c1a728eca2022-12-21T18:43:33ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems2571-581X2019-11-01310.3389/fsufs.2019.00104480343Food Access Deficiencies in Sub-saharan Africa: Prevalence and Implications for Agricultural InterventionsSimon Fraval0Simon Fraval1James Hammond2Jessica R. Bogard3Mary Ng'endo4Jacob van Etten5Mario Herrero6Simon J. Oosting7Imke J. M. de Boer8Mats Lannerstad9Nils Teufel10Christine Lamanna11Todd S. Rosenstock12Tim Pagella13Bernard Vanlauwe14Paul M. Dontsop-Nguezet15David Baines16Pietro Carpena17Paulin Njingulula18Christopher Okafor19Jannike Wichern20Augustine Ayantunde21Caroline Bosire22Sabrina Chesterman23Esther Kihoro24Elizaphan J. O. Rao25Tom Skirrow26Jonathan Steinke27Clare M. Stirling28Viviane Yameogo29Mark T. van Wijk30International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, KenyaAnimal Production Systems Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, NetherlandsInternational Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, KenyaCommonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, St. Lucia, QLD, AustraliaWorld Agroforestry (ICRAF), Nairobi, KenyaBioversity International, Turrialba, Costa RicaCommonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, St. Lucia, QLD, AustraliaAnimal Production Systems Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, NetherlandsAnimal Production Systems Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, NetherlandsIndependent Researcher and Consultant, Stockholm, SwedenInternational Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, KenyaWorld Agroforestry (ICRAF), Nairobi, KenyaWorld Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of CongoSchool of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, United KingdomNatural Resource Management Research Area, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Nairobi, Kenya0International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo1TreeAID, Brunswick Court, Bristol, United Kingdom1TreeAID, Brunswick Court, Bristol, United Kingdom0International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo0International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo2Plant Production Systems Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, NetherlandsInternational Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, KenyaInternational Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, KenyaWorld Agroforestry (ICRAF), Nairobi, KenyaInternational Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, KenyaInternational Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya1TreeAID, Brunswick Court, Bristol, United KingdomBioversity International, Turrialba, Costa Rica3Sustainable Intensification Program, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), Texcoco, MexicoInternational Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, KenyaInternational Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, KenyaOur understanding of food security in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has been hampered by limitations in the temporal and spatial representativeness of data. Food balance sheets provide scalable estimates of per capita food availability, but fail to represent food access, stability and their causal linkages. In contrast, rural household surveys represent detailed conditions for one or multiple points in time, but are influenced by survey timing and are often limited in geographical coverage. This study draws on a large sample of rural land-holding households in SSA (n = 6,353) to identify household level food access deficiencies and to understand the associations with rural livelihoods and food sourcing behavior throughout the year. Food access deficiencies were identified using food security of access and diet diversity indicators. Dietary diversity and channel of access (farm or purchased) were enumerated for the “flush” and “lean” periods and food security of access was enumerated for the lean period only - making the results of this study independent of survey timing. As many as 39% of households were classified as severely food insecure (in terms of food access) and as many as 49% of households were likely to be deficient in micronutrients in the lean period. Vulnerability to food insecurity and micronutrient deficiencies differed by household composition, agricultural livelihood characteristics and agro-ecological zone. Dairy, fruit and vitamin A-rich produce were predominantly accessed through the farm channel. Households with a livestock component to their farm had a lower prevalence of severe food insecurity and higher diet diversity scores. These findings have implications for the development of nutrition-sensitive and nutrition-specific interventions. Interventions need to be tailored to agro-ecological zone, household composition, scale of operation and production mix. Increasing income will not necessarily result in improved diet diversity or healthy dietary choices. Interventions focused on income generation should monitor and promote crop and livestock production diversity and provide nutrition education.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00104/fullnutrition-sensitivecropslivestockdiet diversityfarm systemsrural development |
| spellingShingle | Simon Fraval Simon Fraval James Hammond Jessica R. Bogard Mary Ng'endo Jacob van Etten Mario Herrero Simon J. Oosting Imke J. M. de Boer Mats Lannerstad Nils Teufel Christine Lamanna Todd S. Rosenstock Tim Pagella Bernard Vanlauwe Paul M. Dontsop-Nguezet David Baines Pietro Carpena Paulin Njingulula Christopher Okafor Jannike Wichern Augustine Ayantunde Caroline Bosire Sabrina Chesterman Esther Kihoro Elizaphan J. O. Rao Tom Skirrow Jonathan Steinke Clare M. Stirling Viviane Yameogo Mark T. van Wijk Food Access Deficiencies in Sub-saharan Africa: Prevalence and Implications for Agricultural Interventions Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems nutrition-sensitive crops livestock diet diversity farm systems rural development |
| title | Food Access Deficiencies in Sub-saharan Africa: Prevalence and Implications for Agricultural Interventions |
| title_full | Food Access Deficiencies in Sub-saharan Africa: Prevalence and Implications for Agricultural Interventions |
| title_fullStr | Food Access Deficiencies in Sub-saharan Africa: Prevalence and Implications for Agricultural Interventions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Food Access Deficiencies in Sub-saharan Africa: Prevalence and Implications for Agricultural Interventions |
| title_short | Food Access Deficiencies in Sub-saharan Africa: Prevalence and Implications for Agricultural Interventions |
| title_sort | food access deficiencies in sub saharan africa prevalence and implications for agricultural interventions |
| topic | nutrition-sensitive crops livestock diet diversity farm systems rural development |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00104/full |
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