An estimated two billion people worldwide suffer from malnutrition, sparking debate among researchers and policymakers about how to improve nutrition and nutrition among vulnerable populations.
New learning published in the journal Nature Food contradicts the conventional wisdom that crop diversification by farmers (food diversity production or FPD) is the first step in addressing malnutrition.
So what is the relationship between different foods and the diets of individuals and families? And will access to markets solve malnutrition?
What does this new study say?
The study by the Center for Development Research (ZEF) at the University of Bonn, Germany – the first of its kind – collected data on about 90,000 families in Africa between 2008 and 2022 in Ethiopia, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda.
It advocates that building good roads that provide access to markets in towns and cities can address the problem of malnutrition.
“We show that regional diversity is important and can replace agricultural diversity,” Professor Matin Qaim, from ZEF, told Al Jazeera.
“This is good news because it is easier to ensure that certain crops and livestock are produced elsewhere in the region (and then distributed through local markets) than to push every small farm to have more varieties,” he said.
The researchers looked at the different types of crops and animals raised by farmers, as well as information about the types of food consumed in each household. This study uses the Household Diverse Diet Scale (HDDS) to measure household dietary diversity by counting the foods consumed during a week. This metric provides information on the different types of food that households have access to, and provides an overview of their diet and lifestyle.
Most of the farmers studied were smallholder farmers, known as smallholder farmers or smallholder farmers.
The main questions that the researchers wanted to answer were whether the production of different types of crops and animals among small people is a good way to solve the problem of malnutrition, and whether the families who have access to these farms have enough food. .
Unfortunately, the results are mixed, as shown in this study.
“Making many different products on each farm means that farmers are forced to live a simple life and cannot benefit from any part of the work. “But we also show that market access – for example, infrastructure development – is very important,” Qaim said.
What are the shortcomings of classical education on diversity?
The existing body of research examining the relationship between dietary diversity and dietary diversity has several limitations.
As noted in the Nature Food study, narrowly focusing on differences in agricultural production or focusing on a single country ignores the potential impact of variation on household diets across countries.
Addressing these limitations can help researchers better understand the complex relationship between agriculture and food outcomes. Although the diversity of local farms allowed some families to eat healthy foods, this was not successful.
“Small-scale agriculture in Africa tends to be diversified. Ensuring local and regional markets is more important than promoting diversification at each farm,” said ZEF researcher Thanh Tung Nguyen, who conducted the study together with Qaim.
“These markets not only allow farmers to sell their surplus food, but also help them to buy the food they need,” he said in the crowd. words.
Inadequate infrastructure remains a major obstacle, as poorly maintained roads can lead to long travel times, resulting in material damage or damage during transportation.
Proximity to cities, an indicator of market capitalization in rural Africa, had negative effects in all six countries. According to the survey, a typical house is about 31km (19 miles) away from the next city.
How can we solve the problem of food insecurity?
The research shows that the ability of local farmers to grow the right crops and raise the right livestock, known as FPD, are some of the problems. However, FPD is not the only problem with household nutrition as measured by the household census (HDDS).
“Climatic events – defined as the occurrence of drought, floods, hurricanes or extreme weather events in the past 12 months – are negatively associated with HDDS,” the study says.
“Several other socio-economic characteristics are positively associated with HDDS. Growing non-value crops – such as cotton, coffee, tea or tobacco – on their farms seems to contribute to the provision of food for the majority of families due to income.
Qaim, the researcher, said: “The issues of food resilience against climate change and other types of hazards, and the role of self-production versus markets in this regard, are still not fully understood.”
Researchers said that the season of fruits and vegetables should be more careful. In order to increase agricultural efficiency and economic potential, farmers should prioritize growing crops that grow well in their area and soil conditions, increasing productivity and profitability, the study recommended.
Currently, there are efforts to solve the problem of food availability. In 2016, the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), dedicated to humanitarian and development projects, launched a $55m (44 million British pound) road project in South Sudan to improve trade and food.
In November, the Nyamlel Bridge was handed over to Sudan and 44km (27 miles) of roads to improve health, including clean drinking water facilities and sanitation systems in Northern and Western Bahr el Ghazal States. The construction of the bridge affected – and was intended to help – 1.2 million people in the region.