Street vending of traditional and indigenous food and the potential contribution to household income, food security and dietary diversity: the case of Gaborone, Botswana

Hassen A. 2021. Diversity and potential contribution of wild edible plants to sustainable food security in North Wollo, Ethiopia. Biodiversitas 22: 2501-2510. Rural communities in different parts of the world use WEPs as supplementary food to increase dietary diversity. The findings of this study showed that 40.7% of the participants were food insecure in the study area. They are significantly dependent on WEPs when sudden drought exists. There were no significant studies conducted about ethnobotany in the study area. Therefore, this study was the first attempt to survey the perception of local people towards the potential resources of WEPs for sustainable food security, and conservation and management trends in North Wollo. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews (135 participants), tour-guided field observation, and focus group discussion (45 participants) to get relevant and adequate data. Descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, and preference ranking were used to analyze and interpret the quantitative data. A total of 66 locally available WEPs belong to 30 families found in the study area. Respondents’ preference revealed that O. ficus-indica, Z.spina-christ, C. spinarum, F. sur, and U. sinesis were ranked first, second, third, fourth, and fifth, respectively. Hence, this study will provide relevant information for policy-makers and managers to combat food insecurity in the study area.

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Foraging Wild Food in Urban Spaces: The Contribution of Wild Foods to Urban Dietary Diversity in South Africa

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12020678 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 678 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Hesekia Garekae ◽

Charlie M. Shackleton

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Food Security ◽

Rural Communities ◽

Food Systems ◽

Dietary Diversity ◽

Wild Food ◽

Potential Contribution ◽

Food Groups ◽

Wild Foods ◽

Vegetables And Fruits

Globally, approximately one billion people benefit from contributions of wild foods to their food security and dietary diversity. Wild foods are known to be important in rural communities in terms of food and micronutrient provision, diversifying diets, reducing vulnerability to non-communicable diseases and overall health. However, the potential contribution of wild foods towards food security and dietary diversity in urban food systems has been largely overlooked. This study examined the contribution of wild foods to household dietary diversity in two towns in South Africa, based on a survey of 137 households. Household diets were quite diverse, with half (51%) having consumed ≥ 8 food groups, 39% consumed 6 or 7 food groups, and only 10% recorded ≤ 5 food groups in the previous 48 h. Wild foods were prevalent across the sample, with 62% of the households consuming them to some degree. Wild vegetables and fruits were the most common wild foods, consumed by 96 and 79% of the households, respectively. Although wild foods had limited significance on overall dietary diversity, they exhibited substantial contributions within particular food groups. For example, the consumption of vegetables and oil and fats was most prevalent among households consuming wild foods than those who did not. The findings show that wild foods could contribute towards diversifying urban diets at a micro-level, within particular food groups consumed, such as vegetables and fruits. Hence, wild foods are important in ameliorating the monotonous diets of some households and in turn promoting dietary diversity.

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Seasonality and food security among smallholder rural households in eastern Ethiopia: evidence from panel data analysis

10.21203/rs.2.24593/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Chanyalew Seyoum Aweke ◽

Maria Sassi ◽

Edward Lahiff ◽

Muluken G. Wordofa

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Food Insecurity ◽

Household Income ◽

Dietary Diversity ◽

Mobile Telephone ◽

Eastern Ethiopia ◽

Food And Nutrition Security ◽

Nutrition Security ◽

Household Food ◽

Food And Nutrition

Abstract Food insecurity remains one of the major challenges in Ethiopia. There is scanty empirical evidence regarding the contribution of seasonality to household food and nutrition security. This study was conducted in eastern Ethiopia with the aim of examining seasonal household food and nutrition security and factors influencing this seasonal variation. Data was gathered from randomly selected households during pre- and post-harvest seasons. A Random Effects Generalized Least Squares (GLS) regression was employed for analysis. The result indicated considerable variation between the two seasons in terms of dietary diversity and food security. Households producing more food groups, cultivating larger size of land, having higher household income, keeping more livestock, owning cell phone, having access to cooperatives, and having access to improved drinking water as well as education were more likely to be more food secure across seasons. However, households keeping livestock in their dwelling units and households who had access to credit were negatively associated with seasonal food insecurity. Future interventions aiming at ensuring food security should pay attention to seasonality and mechanisms of improving diversified food production and household income as well as expanding education opportunities and access to cooperatives, infrastructure (mobile telephone) and sanitation.

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Impact of Adopting Improved Seeds on Access to Broader Food Groups Among Small-Scale Sorghum Producers in Tanzania

SAGE Open ◽

10.1177/2158244020979992 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 215824402097999

Author(s):

Aloyce R. Kaliba ◽

Anne G. Gongwe ◽

Kizito Mazvimavi ◽

Ashagre Yigletu

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Dietary Diversity ◽

Sampling Technique ◽

Inverse Probability Weighting ◽

Reproductive Age ◽

Small Scale ◽

Probability Weighting ◽

Food Groups ◽

Inverse Probability ◽

Double Robust

In this study, we use double-robust estimators (i.e., inverse probability weighting and inverse probability weighting with regression adjustment) to quantify the effect of adopting climate-adaptive improved sorghum varieties on household and women dietary diversity scores in Tanzania. The two indicators, respectively, measure access to broader food groups and micronutrient and macronutrient availability among children and women of reproductive age. The selection of sample households was through a multistage sampling technique, and the population was all households in the sorghum-producing regions of Central, Northern, and Northwestern Tanzania. Before data collection, enumerators took part in a 1-week training workshop and later collected data from 822 respondents using a structured questionnaire. The main results from the study show that the adoption of improved sorghum seeds has a positive effect on both household and women dietary diversity scores. Access to quality food groups improves nutritional status, food security adequacy, and general welfare of small-scale farmers in developing countries. Agricultural projects that enhance access to improved seeds are, therefore, likely to generate a positive and sustainable effect on food security and poverty alleviation in sorghum-producing regions of Tanzania.

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On-farm trees are a safety net for the poorest households rather than a major contributor to food security in Rwanda

Food Security ◽

10.1007/s12571-020-01138-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Alain Ndoli ◽

Athanase Mukuralinda ◽

Antonius G. T. Schut ◽

Miyuki Iiyama ◽

Jean Damascene Ndayambaje ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Household Income ◽

Crop Production ◽

Scale Up ◽

Safety Net ◽

Farm Size ◽

Income Sources ◽

Agroforestry Practice ◽

On Farm ◽

Agroforestry Practices

AbstractThe world is challenged to meet the food demand of a growing population, especially in developing countries. Given the ambitious plans to scale up agroforestry in Africa, an improved understanding of the effect of agroforestry practices on the already challenged food security of rural households is crucial. The present study was undertaken to assess how on-farm trees impacted food security in addition to other household income sources in Rwanda. In each of the six agroecologies of Rwanda, a stratified sampling procedure was used where two administrative cells (4th formal administrative level) were selected in which households were randomly selected for interviews. A survey including 399 farmers was conducted and farmers were grouped in three types of agroforestry practice (i) low practitioners (LAP) represented by the first tertile, (ii) medium practitioners (MAP) represented by the second tertile and (iii) high practitioners (HAP) represented by the third tertile of households in terms of tree number. Asset values, household income sources, crop production, farm size, crop yield, and food security (food energy needs) were quantified among the types of agroforestry practice. A larger proportion of HAP households had access to adequate quantity and diversity of food when compared with MAP and LAP households. Food security probability was higher for households with more resources, including land, trees and livestock, coinciding with an increased crop and livestock income. We found no difference in asset endowment among types of agroforestry practices, while farmers in agroecologies with smaller farms (0.42 ha to 0.66 ha) had more on-farm trees (212 to 358 trees per household) than farms in agroecologies with larger farms (0.96 ha to 1.23 ha) which had 49 to 129 trees per household, probably due to differences in biophysical conditions. A positive association between tree density and food security was found in two out of six agroecologies. The proportion of income that came from tree products was high (> 20%) for a small fraction of farmers (12%), with the more food insecure households relying more on income from tree products than households with better food security status. Thus, tree income can be percieved as a “safety net” for the poorest households.

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Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on agricultural production, livelihoods, and food security in India: baseline results of a phone survey

Food Security ◽

10.1007/s12571-021-01164-w ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Lindsay M. Jaacks ◽

Divya Veluguri ◽

Rajesh Serupally ◽

Aditi Roy ◽

Poornima Prabhakaran ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Agricultural Production ◽

Dietary Diversity ◽

The Past ◽

Phone Survey ◽

Extra Food ◽

The Government ◽

Time Of Year ◽

Livestock Products ◽

The Impact

AbstractThe aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on agricultural production, livelihoods, food security, and dietary diversity in India. Phone interview surveys were conducted by trained enumerators across 12 states and 200 districts in India from 3 to 15 May 2020. A total of 1437 farmers completed the survey (94% male; 28% 30–39 years old; 38% with secondary schooling). About one in ten farmers (11%) did not harvest in the past month with primary reasons cited being unfavorable weather (37%) and lockdown-related reasons (24%). A total of 63% of farmers harvested in the past month (primarily wheat and vegetables), but only 44% had sold their crop; 12% were still trying to sell their crop, and 39% had stored their crop, with more than half (55%) reporting lockdown-related issues as the reason for storing. Seventy-nine percent of households with wage-workers witnessed a decline in wages in the past month and 49% of households with incomes from livestock witnessed a decline. Landless farmers were about 10 times more likely to skip a meal as compared to large farmers (18% versus 2%), but a majority reported receiving extra food rations from the government. Nearly all farmers reported consuming staple grains daily in the past week (97%), 63% consumed dairy daily, 40% vegetables daily, 26% pulses daily, and 7% fruit daily. These values are much lower than reported previously for farmers in India around this time of year before COVID-19: 94–95% dairy daily, 57–58% pulses daily, 64–65% vegetables daily, and 42–43% fruit daily. In conclusion, we found that the COVID-19 lockdown in India has primarily impacted farmers’ ability to sell their crops and livestock products and decreased daily wages and dietary diversity.

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