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Grain legume cultivation and children’s dietary diversity in smallholder farming households in rural Ghana and Kenya

Author

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  • Ilse de Jager

    (Wageningen University
    Wageningen University)

  • Abdul-Razak Abizari

    (University for Development Studies)

  • Jacob C. Douma

    (Wageningen University
    Wageningen University)

  • Ken E. Giller

    (Wageningen University)

  • Inge D. Brouwer

    (Wageningen University)

Abstract

Boosting smallholder food production can potentially improve children’s nutrition in rural Sub-Saharan Africa through a production-own consumption pathway and an income-food purchase pathway. Rigorously designed studies are needed to provide evidence for nutrition impact, but are often difficult to implement in agricultural projects. Within the framework of a large agricultural development project supporting legume production (N2Africa), we studied the potential to improve children’s dietary diversity by comparing N2Africa and non-N2Africa households in a cross-sectional quasi-experimental design, followed by structural equation modelling (SEM) and focus group discussions in rural Ghana and Kenya. Comparing N2Africa and non-N2Africa households, we found that participating in N2Africa was not associated with improved dietary diversity of children. However, for soybean, SEM indicated a relatively good fit to the posteriori model in Kenya but not in Ghana, and in Kenya only the production-own consumption pathway was fully supported, with no effect through the income-food purchase pathway. Results are possibly related to differences in the food environment between the two countries, related to attribution of positive characteristics to soybean, the variety of local soybean-based dishes, being a new crop or not, women’s involvement in soybean cultivation, the presence of markets, and being treated as a food or cash crop. These findings confirm the importance of the food environment for translation of enhanced crop production into improved human nutrition. This study also shows that in a situation where rigorous study designs cannot be implemented, SEM is a useful option to analyse whether agriculture projects have the potential to improve nutrition.

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  • Ilse de Jager & Abdul-Razak Abizari & Jacob C. Douma & Ken E. Giller & Inge D. Brouwer, 2017. "Grain legume cultivation and children’s dietary diversity in smallholder farming households in rural Ghana and Kenya," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 9(5), pages 1053-1071, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ssefpa:v:9:y:2017:i:5:d:10.1007_s12571-017-0720-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s12571-017-0720-0
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    Cited by:

    1. Gerrie W. J. Ven & Anne Valença & Wytze Marinus & Ilse Jager & Katrien K. E. Descheemaeker & Willem Hekman & Beyene Teklu Mellisse & Frederick Baijukya & Mwantumu Omari & Ken E. Giller, 2021. "Living income benchmarking of rural households in low-income countries," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(3), pages 729-749, June.
    2. Wilson Charles Wilson & Maja Slingerland & Frederick P. Baijukya & Hannah Zanten & Simon Oosting & Ken E. Giller, 2021. "Integrating the soybean-maize-chicken value chains to attain nutritious diets in Tanzania," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(6), pages 1595-1612, December.
    3. Ilse Jager & Gerrie W. J. Ven & Ken E. Giller & Inge D. Brouwer, 2023. "Seasonality and nutrition-sensitive farming in rural Northern Ghana," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 15(2), pages 381-394, April.
    4. Acga Cheng & Murthazar Naim Raai & Nurul Amalina Mohd Zain & Festo Massawe & Ajit Singh & Wan Abd Al Qadr Imad Wan-Mohtar, 2019. "In search of alternative proteins: unlocking the potential of underutilized tropical legumes," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(6), pages 1205-1215, December.

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