Dataset Information

Rural food security, subsistence agriculture, and seasonality.

ABSTRACT: Many of the world's food-insecure and undernourished people are smallholder farmers in developing countries. This is especially true in Africa. There is an urgent need to make smallholder agriculture and food systems more nutrition-sensitive. African farm households are known to consume a sizeable part of what they produce at home. Less is known about how much subsistence agriculture actually contributes to household diets, and how this contribution changes seasonally. We use representative data from rural Ethiopia covering every month of one full year to address this knowledge gap. On average, subsistence production accounts for 58% of rural households' calorie consumption, that is, 42% of the calories consumed are from purchased foods. Some seasonal variation occurs. During the lean season, purchased foods account for more than half of all calories consumed. But even during the main harvest and post-harvest season, purchased foods contribute more than one-third to total calorie consumption. Markets are even more important for dietary quality. During all seasons, purchased foods play a much larger role for dietary diversity than subsistence production. These findings suggest that strengthening rural markets needs to be a key element in strategies to improve food security and dietary quality in the African small-farm sector.

SUBMITTER: Sibhatu KT

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5648179 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Rural food security, subsistence agriculture, and seasonality.

Sibhatu Kibrom T KT Qaim Matin M

PloS one 20171019 10

Many of the world's food-insecure and undernourished people are smallholder farmers in developing countries. This is especially true in Africa. There is an urgent need to make smallholder agriculture and food systems more nutrition-sensitive. African farm households are known to consume a sizeable part of what they produce at home. Less is known about how much subsistence agriculture actually contributes to household diets, and how this contribution changes seasonally. We use representative data ...[more]

PMID: 29049329

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Project description:In this research, we build two food systems datasets in Mexico; The first one describes the structure of agricultural production units and the second one describes food security aspects of the rural population in these agricultural production units. We also build a third dataset, consisting of path diagrams and path coefficients (derived from Structural Equation Modeling) that relate the first dataset to the second dataset in the four most populated ecoregions of Mexico. The description of the path models and the insights they bring to the current state of food security in Mexican rural households are detailed in an associated article entitled "Is food security primarily associated with smallholder agriculture or with commercial agriculture?: An approach to the case of Mexico using structural equation modeling" (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103091). The agricultural variables (in the first dataset) include farm size, destination of the farmer's production, cultivation practice / water management, predominant source of income of the household, land tenure type, crop diversity, agricultural surface expansion, and the presence of forest cover. They are based on the primary data of the full, latest available agricultural census in Mexico and corresponding official land use / land cover data. The second dataset consists of four food security indicators designed and built for the first food security model in Mexico that incorporates food availability, food accessibility and food utilization aspects. They include the Food Self-sufficiency Index (the balance between food production and food consumption), the Food Access Index (inversely related to marginalization), the Entitlement to Public Health Care index, and the Undernutrition Infrequency index (related to hospital sickness records). We provide the path tables and diagrams that describe the links between the agricultural structure and food security. These diagrams provide the first nationwide statistical evidence for the prominent role of smallholder agriculture in rural food security at the national level and at ecoregion scale for a country of the global South. In order to further investigate the structure of the agricultural production units and their relationships with socio-economic, territorial and landscape data, artificial intelligence (i.e. data mining and machine learning) techniques could be performed on this compendium of datasets. The food security data may stir the development of more food security models in Mexico in relation to other drivers such as consumption habits and non-agricultural activities of rural households.

Project description:BackgroundClimate change is expected to decrease food security globally. Many Indigenous communities have heightened sensitivity to climate change and food insecurity for multifactorial reasons including close relationships with the local environment and socioeconomic inequities which increase exposures and challenge adaptation to climate change. Pregnant women have additional sensitivity to food insecurity, as antenatal undernutrition is linked with poor maternal-infant health. This study examined pathways through which climate change influenced food security during pregnancy among Indigenous and non-Indigenous women in rural Uganda. Specific objectives were to characterize: 1) sensitivities to climate-associated declines in food security for pregnant Indigenous women; 2) women's perceptions of climate impacts on food security during pregnancy; and 3) changes in food security and maternal-infant health over time, as observed by women.MethodsUsing a community-based research approach, we conducted eight focus group discussions-four in Indigenous Batwa communities and four in non-Indigenous communities-in Kanungu District, Uganda, on the subject of climate and food security during pregnancy. Thirty-six women with ≥1 pregnancy participated. Data were analysed using a constant comparative method and thematic analysis.ResultsWomen indicated that food insecurity was common during pregnancy and had a bidirectional relationship with antenatal health issues. Food security was thought to be decreasing due to weather changes including extended droughts and unpredictable seasons harming agriculture. Women linked food insecurity with declines in maternal-infant health over time, despite improved antenatal healthcare. While all communities described food security struggles, the challenges Indigenous women identified and described were more severe.ConclusionsPrograms promoting women's adaptive capacity to climate change are required to improve food security for pregnant women and maternal-infant health. These interventions are particularly needed in Indigenous communities, which often face underlying health inequities. However, resiliency among mothers was strong and, with supports, they can reduce food security challenges in a changing climate.

Dataset Information

Rural food security, subsistence agriculture, and seasonality.

Publications

Rural food security, subsistence agriculture, and seasonality.

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