Plant different, eat different? Insights from participatory agricultural research

Author:

Azzarri CarloORCID,Haile BeliyouORCID,Letta Marco

Abstract

We examine the association between on-farm production diversity on household dietary diversity in Malawi using microdata collected as part of an environmentally sustainable agricultural intensification program. The program primarily focuses on the integration of legumes into the cropping system through maize-legume intercropping and legume-legume intercropping. Relative to staple cereals such as maize, legumes are rich in micronutrients, contain better-quality protein, and lead to nitrogen fixation. Given the systematic difference we document between program beneficiaries and randomly sampled non-beneficiary (control) households, we employ causal instrumental variables mediation analysis to account for non-random selection and possible simultaneity between production and consumption decisions. We find a significant positive treatment effect on dietary diversity, led by an increase in production diversity. Analysis of potential pathways show that effects on dietary diversity stem mostly from consumption of diverse food items purchased from the market made possible through higher agricultural income. These findings highlight that, while increasing production for markets can enhance dietary diversity through higher income that would make affordable an expanded set of food items, the production of more nutritious crops such as pulses may not necessarily translate into greater own consumption. This may be due to the persistence of dietary habits, tastes, or other local factors that favor consumption of staples such as maize and encourage sales of more profitable and nutritious food items such as pulses. Pulses are a more affordable and environmentally sustainable source of protein than animal source food, and efforts should be made to enhance their nutritional awareness and contribution to sustainable food systems and healthier diets.

Funder

United States Agency for International Development

Publisher

Public Library of Science (PLoS)

Subject

Multidisciplinary

Reference64 articles.

1. World Bank. From agriculture to nutrition: pathways, synergies and outcomes. Washington DC; 2007. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/9511.

2. Biofortification-a sustainable agricultural strategy for reducing micronutrient malnutrition in the Global South;HE Bouis;Crop Sci,2010

3. Can agroecology improve food security and nutrition? A review;R Bezner Kerr;Glob Food Sec,2021

4. Sibhatu KT, Krishna V V., Qaim M. Production diversity and dietary diversity in smallholder farm households. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2015 pp. 10657–10662. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1510982112.

5. Farm Production, Market access and Dietary Diversity in Malawi;S Koppmair;Public Health Nutr,2017

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3