The impact of gender equity in agriculture on nutritional status, diets, and household food security: a mixed-methods systematic review

IntroductionUndernutrition rates remain high in rural, low-income settings, where large, gender-based inequities persist. We hypothesised that increasing gender equity in agriculture could improve nutrition.MethodsWe conducted a systematic review to assess the associations between gender-based inequities (in income, land, livestock, and workloads) and nutrition, diets and food security outcomes in agricultural contexts of low-income and middle-income countries. Between 9 March and 7 August 2018, we searched 18 databases and 14 journals, and contacted 27 experts. We included quantitative and qualitative literature from agricultural contexts in low-income and middle-income countries, with no date restriction. Outcomes were women’s and children’s anthropometric status, dietary quality and household food security. We conducted meta-analyses using random-effects models.ResultsWe identified 19 820 records, of which 34 studies (42 809 households) met the inclusion criteria. Most (22/25) quantitative studies had a high risk of bias, and qualitative evidence was of mixed quality. Income, land and livestock equity had heterogeneous associations with household food security and child anthropometric outcomes. Meta-analyses showed women’s share of household income earned (0.32, 95% CI −4.22 to 4.86; six results) and women’s share of land owned (2.72, 95% CI -0.52 to 5.96; three results) did not increase the percentage of household budget spent on food. Higher-quality studies showed more consistently positive associations between income equity and food security. Evidence is limited on other exposure–outcome pairings.ConclusionsWe find heterogeneous associations between gender equity and household-level food security. High-quality research is needed to establish the impact of gender equity on nutrition outcomes across contexts.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42018093987.

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The impact of improved agricultural technologies on household food security of smallholders in Central Ethiopia: An endogenous switching estimation

World Food Policy ◽

10.1002/wfp2.12029 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Mekonnen Hailu ◽

Degefa Tolossa ◽

Anteneh Girma ◽

Belay Kassa

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Household Food Security ◽

Agricultural Technologies ◽

Central Ethiopia ◽

Household Food ◽

Endogenous Switching ◽

The Impact

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High food insecurity in Latinx families and associated COVID-19 infection in the Greater Bay Area, California

BMC Nutrition ◽

10.1186/s40795-021-00419-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Milagro Escobar ◽

Andrea DeCastro Mendez ◽

Maria Romero Encinas ◽

Sofia Villagomez ◽

Janet M. Wojcicki

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Food Insecurity ◽

San Francisco ◽

Employment Status ◽

The United States ◽

Household Food Security ◽

Bay Area ◽

Household Food ◽

History Of ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background Food insecurity impacts nearly one-in-four Latinx households in the United States and has been exacerbated by the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic. Methods We examined the impact of COVID-19 on household and child food security in three preexisting, longitudinal, Latinx urban cohorts in the San Francisco Bay Area (N = 375 households, 1875 individuals). Households were initially recruited during pregnancy and postpartum at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital (ZSFG) and UCSF Benioff prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. For this COVID-19 sub-study, participants responded to a 15-min telephonic interview. Participants answered 18 questions from the US Food Security Food Module (US HFSSM) and questions on types of food consumption, housing and employment status, and history of COVID-19 infection as per community or hospital-based testing. Food security and insecurity levels were compared with prior year metrics. Results We found low levels of household food security in Latinx families (by cohort: 29.2%; 34.2%; 60.0%) and child food security (56.9%, 54.1%, 78.0%) with differences between cohorts explained by self-reported levels of education and employment status. Food security levels were much lower than those reported previously in two cohorts where data had been recorded from prior years. Reported history of COVID-19 infection in households was 4.8% (95% Confidence Interval (CI); 1.5–14.3%); 7.2% (95%CI, 3.6–13.9%) and 3.5% (95%CI, 1.7–7.2%) by cohort and was associated with food insecurity in the two larger cohorts (p = 0.03; p = 0.01 respectively). Conclusions Latinx families in the Bay Area with children are experiencing a sharp rise in food insecurity levels during the COVID-19 epidemic. Food insecurity, similar to other indices of poverty, is associated with increased risk for COVID-19 infection. Comprehensive interventions are needed to address food insecurity in Latinx populations and further studies are needed to better assess independent associations between household food insecurity, poor nutritional health and risk of COVID-19 infection.

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Assessing the Potential Contribution of Pfumvudza Towards Climate Smart Agriculture in Zimbabwe: A Review

10.20944/preprints202101.0619.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Never Mujere

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Nitrous Oxide ◽

Food Security ◽

Nitrous Oxide Emissions ◽

Household Food Security ◽

Potential Contribution ◽

Mitigation And Adaptation ◽

Household Food ◽

Smart Agriculture ◽

The Impact

Concerns of food and environmental security have increased enormously in recent years due to the vagaries of climate change and variability. Efforts to promote food security and environmental sustainability often reinforce each other and enable farmers to adapt to and mitigate the impact of climate change and other stresses. Some of these efforts are based on appropriate technologies and practices that restore natural ecosystems and improve the resilience of farming systems, thus enhancing food security. Climate smart agriculture (CSA) principles, for example, translate into a number of locally-devised and applied practices that work simultaneously through contextualised crop-soil-water-nutrient-pest-ecosystem management at a variety of scales. The purpose of this paper is to review concisely the current state-of-the-art literature and ascertain the potential of the Pfumvudza concept to enhance household food security, climate change mitigation and adaptation as it is promoted in Zimbabwe. The study relied heavily on data from print and electronic media. Datasets pertaining to carbon, nitrous oxide and methane storage in soils and crop yield under zero tillage and conventional tillage were compiled. Findings show that, compared to conventional farming, Pfumvudza has great potential to contribute towards household food security and reducing carbon emissions if implemented following the stipulated recommendations. These include among others, adequate land preparation and timely planting and acquiring inputs. However, nitrous oxide emissions tend to increase with reduced tillage and, the use of artificial fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides is environmentally unfriendly.

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The impact of rising food prices on obesity in women: a longitudinal analysis of 31 low-income and middle-income countries from 2000 to 2014

International Journal of Obesity ◽

10.1038/s41366-018-0178-y ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 43 (4) ◽

pp. 774-781 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Annalijn I. Conklin ◽

Adel Daoud ◽

Riti Shimkhada ◽

Ninez A. Ponce

Keyword(s):

Longitudinal Analysis ◽

Low Income ◽

Food Prices ◽

Middle Income ◽

Middle Income Countries ◽

The Impact

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Environmental Health

Social Injustice and Public Health ◽

10.1093/oso/9780190914653.003.0018 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 363-386

Author(s):

Barry S. Levy

Keyword(s):

Environmental Health ◽

Global Climate Change ◽

Low Income ◽

Minority Groups ◽

Global Climate ◽

Social Injustice ◽

Marginalized Populations ◽

Middle Income ◽

Middle Income Countries ◽

The Impact

This chapter describes the adverse impact of social injustice on environmental health. Environmental pollution is a social injustice for all people, with a disproportionate impact on low- and middle-income countries and, within countries, low-income people, minority groups, and other marginalized populations. The chapter describes the evolution of the environmental justice movement and the studies that have demonstrated disproportionate exposures and the disproportionate occurrence of pollution-related diseases among low-income people, minority groups, and other marginalized populations. A separate section describes the environmental and health consequences of global climate change. Three text boxes focus on childhood lead poisoning, the impact of natural disasters on social justice, and on the new interdiscipilinary field of planetary health.

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Soup kitchen users' social representations of healthy eating associated with their household food security status

Revista de Nutrição ◽

10.1590/1678-98652016000200007 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 29 (2) ◽

pp. 229-240

Author(s):

Isabel Cristina BENTO ◽

Fernanda Martins SOBRINHO ◽

Mery Natali Silva ABREU ◽

Maria Flávia GAZZINELLI ◽

Simone Cardoso Lisboa PEREIRA

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Healthy Eating ◽

Low Income ◽

Univariate Analysis ◽

Social Representation ◽

Household Food Security ◽

Household Food ◽

Food Security Status ◽

Food And Nutrition ◽

Belo Horizonte

Objective: To verify whether what users of soup kitchens in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, think about a healthy diet and the challenges they face to eat healthy are associated with their household food security status. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 1,656 users of soup kitchens in Belo Horizonte. Socioeconomic and household food security data, and healthy-eating discourses were collected by a semi-structured questionnaire. The data were submitted to descriptive analyses for constructing frequency distribution tables, and to univariate analysis. Discourse analysis was based on the social representation theory. Results: To cut, reduce, avoid, not eat, eat less, and decrease carbohydrates, salt, meats, various beverages, and other foods are the most frequent changes (71.4%) that food-secure users have made or intend to make. Food-insecure users intended to eat more fruits, non-starchy vegetables, and other foods (34.4%). The main obstacles food-secure and food-insecure users face to adopt a healthier diet are lack of time (82.9%) and low income (53.5%), respectively (p<0.001). Conclusion: What users of soup kitchens in Belo Horizonte think about food and the obstacles they face to adopt a healthier diet are related to their household food security status. The results provide valuable data for effective proposals of food and nutrition education, which should act on the producers of subjectivity in this group and consider this group's food and nutrition security status.

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Health of transgender men in low-income and middle-income countries: a scoping review

BMJ Global Health ◽

10.1136/bmjgh-2020-003471 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (11) ◽

pp. e003471

Author(s):

Ayden Scheim ◽

Vibhuti Kacholia ◽

Carmen Logie ◽

Venkatesan Chakrapani ◽

Ketki Ranade ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Scoping Review ◽

Low Income ◽

Grey Literature ◽

Men’S Health ◽

Men's Health ◽

Middle Income ◽

Middle Income Countries ◽

Trans Men ◽

Gender Based ◽

And Gender

IntroductionDespite the rapid growth of research on transgender (trans) health globally, the extent of research on trans men and other transmasculine persons assigned the female sex at birth remains unclear. We, therefore, conducted a scoping review on trans men’s health in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs).MethodsThe review included peer-reviewed articles and conference abstracts, and grey literature published from 1 January 1999 to 5 July 2019 in English, French, Hindi or Spanish and reporting original quantitative and/or qualitative data on the health of trans men or transmasculine persons living in LMIC. Studies were excluded if they did not disaggregate data for trans men or if they only described surgical techniques or laboratory values.ResultsWe included 53 studies (42 peer-reviewed and 11 grey literature) from 19 LMIC. Most were conducted in higher-middle-income countries (n=12) and in Latin America (n=16, 30.2%), the Middle East (n=14, 26.4%) or Sub-Saharan Africa (n=12, 22.6%) and published in 2014 or later (n=44, 83.0%). Approximately half of studies used quantitative methods (52.8%, n=28), of which 64.3% (n=18) had fewer than 50 participants and 14.2% (n=4) had over 150. Across study designs, social determinants of health and gender-affirming care were the most commonly represented domains (49.1% and 47.1% of studies respectively), with common themes including gender-based violence, coercion and discrimination as well as unprescribed hormone use. Other domains represented included mental health (32.1%), sexual and reproductive health (24.5%), general healthcare access (18.9%), physical health (9.4%) and substance use (9.4%).ConclusionGreater inclusion and disaggregation of trans men and transmasculine persons in global health research is needed to support sex- and gender-based analyses of trans health. Community-based research approaches and theoretically driven research may help to increase the relevance and rigour of such research. Funders should invest in research on trans men’s health in LMIC.

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Older People, Mobility and Transport in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Review of the Research

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11216157 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (21) ◽

pp. 6157 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Mark Gorman ◽

Sion Jones ◽

Jeffrey Turner

Keyword(s):

Older People ◽

Low Income ◽

Well Being ◽

The State ◽

Small Scale ◽

Knowledge Gaps ◽

Middle Income ◽

Middle Income Countries ◽

The Impact ◽

Low And Middle Income

Older populations are rising globally, which in high-income countries has helped to generate a growing literature on the impact of ageing on travel requirements and transport policy. This article aims to provide an initial assessment of the state of knowledge on the impact on transportation policy and usage of the increasing numbers of older people in low- and middle-income countries (LAMICs), through a review of the literature relating to older people and transportation. As both the academic and policy/practice-related literature specifically addressing ageing and transport in LAMICs is limited, the study looks beyond transportation to assess the state of knowledge regarding the ways in which older people’s mobility is affected by issues, such as health, well-being, social (dis)engagement and gender. We find significant knowledge gaps, resulting in an evidence base to support the implementation of policy is lacking. Most research in low-income countries (LICs) is either broad quantitative analysis based on national survey data or small-scale qualitative studies. We conclude that, although study of the differing contexts of ageing in LAMICs as they relate to older people’s mobilities and transport use has barely begun, institutions which both make and influence policymaking recognise the existence of significant knowledge gaps. This should provide the context in which research agendas can be established.

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