Gender, Health and Nutrition

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/75707

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 31

The impact of irrigation on nutrition, health, and gender: A review paper with insights for Africa south of the Sahara
(Working Paper, 2013) Domenech, Laia; Ringler, Claudia
The hypothesis underlying this review paper is that how irrigation gets deployed in SSA will be decisive not only for environmental sustainability (such as deciding remaining forest cover in the region) and poverty reduction, but also for health, nutrition, and gender outcomes in the region. The focus of this paper is on the health, nutrition, and gender linkage.
Is reliable water access the solution to undernutrition? A review of the potential of irrigation to solve nutrition and gender gaps in Africa South of the Sahara
(Working Paper, 2015-03-20) Domènech, Laia
Interventions aimed at increasing water availability for livelihood and domestic activities have great potential to improve various determinants of undernutrition, such as the quantity and diversity of foods consumed within the household, income generation, and women’s empowerment. However, current evidence on the topic is diluted across many different publications. This paper aims to connect the dots and review the literature available on the linkages between irrigation and food security, improved nutrition, and health. We conclude that the evidence remains insufficient to draw broad conclusions due to the low number of rigorous studies that can be used to assess the linkages. Based on the limited evidence, six factors that should be taken into account in irrigation development to address nutrition and gender gaps with a focus on Africa south of the Sahara are identified: (1) food security and nutrition gains should be stated goals of irrigation programs; (2) training programs and awareness campaigns should accompany irrigation interventions to promote nutrient-dense food production and consumption as well as minimization of health risks; (3) multiple uses of irrigation water should be recognized in order to improve access to water supply and sanitation and livestock and aquatic production; (4) women’s empowerment and women’s participation in irrigation programs should be promoted; (5) homestead food production should be encouraged; and (6) policy synergies between different sectors (agriculture, nutrition, health, water supply and sanitation, education) should be sought.
Fighting malnutrition among the poor: Project targeting low-income women and children in Kenya and Uganda investigates super-recipe
(Press Item, 2016-04-05) International Center for Tropical Agriculture
The importance of gender roles in human nutrition
(Video, 2016-11-21) Wright, Iain A.
Interview with Iain Wright (ILRI) for the book "A different kettle of fish? Gender integration in livestock and fish research". http://hdl.handle.net/10568/76684
Agricultural productivity and nutrition: The role of women
(Video, 2016-11-21) Wijk, Mark T. van
It is often assumed that increasing agricultural productivity leads to a better diet. But in fact the relationship is more complex, and gender has an important role in mediating it. There are only a few harmonized datasets available, so the research team built its own tool and used it around the world in different systems. There was a sharp contrast between Africa and Asia. In East Africa, greater market orientation does not lead to better diets because money is spent in lots of ways other than nutrition. In Asia, women have much more control over agriculture and cash, which means that an increase in productivity does improve diets. In Africa, to improve diets it is better to work on crop diversification. Interview with Mark van Wijk (ILRI) for the book "A different kettle of fish? Gender integration in livestock and fish research". http://hdl.handle.net/10568/76684
Nutritional characterisation of low-income households of Nairobi: Socioeconomic, livestock and gender considerations and predictors of malnutrition from a cross-sectional survey
(Journal Article, 2016-12) Domínguez Salas, Paula; Alarcón, Pablo; Häsler, Barbara; Dohoo, I.R.; Colverson, Kathleen E.; Kimani-Murage, E.W.; Alonso, Silvia; Ferguson, E.; Fèvre, Eric M.; Rushton, Jonathan; Grace, Delia
Background In sub-Saharan Africa, urban informal settlements are rapidly expanding, leading to overcrowding and constituting challenging environments for food and water supplies, health and nutrition. The study objectives were to characterise and compare two low-income areas of Nairobi according to socioeconomic (including livestock and gender) indicators and the nutritional status of non-pregnant women of reproductive age and 1 to 3 year-old children; and to investigate socioeconomic predictors of malnutrition in these areas. Methods In this cross-sectional survey 205 low-income households in deprived areas of Dagoretti and Korogocho (Nairobi) were randomly selected. Socioeconomic data were collected via an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Maternal and child dietary data were collected by a 24-h dietary recall. Maternal and child anthropometric and haemoglobin measurements were taken. Chi-square, t-test and Wilcoxon-Mann–Whitney test were used to compare groups and multivariable linear regression to assess predictors of malnutrition. Results Dagoretti consistently showed better socioeconomic indicators including: income, education and occupation of household head, land ownership, housing quality and domestic asset ownership. Animal ownership was more than twice as high in Dagoretti as in Korogocho (53.0 % vs 22.9 % of households; p-value < 0.0001). A double burden of malnutrition existed: 41.5 % of children were stunted, and 29.0 % of women were overweight. In addition, 74.0 % of the children and 25.9 % of the women were anaemic, and were at risk of inadequate intakes for a number of micronutrients. Nutritional status and nutrient intakes were consistently better in Dagoretti than Korogocho; height-for-age (0.47 Z-scores higher; p-value = 0.004), the minimum dietary diversity (80.0 % vs 57.7 % in children, p-value = 0.001) and intakes of several nutrients were significantly higher. Positive predictors of maternal nutritional status were income, age and not having a premature delivery. Positive predictors of child nutritional status were area, household head education, mother not being married, female animal ownership and child’s sex (female). Conclusions Malnutrition is prevalent in these settings, which could be partly due to low nutrient intakes, and to socioeconomic factors (including poverty), thus requiring comprehensive approaches that include increased accessibility and affordability of nutrient-dense foods. This study indicates that differences among low-income areas may need consideration for prioritisation and design of interventions.
Consuming Iron Biofortified Beans Increases Iron Status in Rwandan Women after 128 Days in a Randomized Controlled Feeding Trial
(Journal Article, 2016-08) Haas, Jere D.; Luna, Sarah V.; Lung'aho, Mercy G.; Wenger, Michael J.; Murray-Kolb, Laura E.; Beebe, Stephen E.; Gahutu, Jean-Bosco; Egli, Ines M.
Background: Food-based strategies to reduce nutritional iron deficiency have not been universally successful. Biofortification has the potential to become a sustainable, inexpensive, and effective solution. Objective: This randomized controlled trial was conducted to determine the efficacy of iron-biofortified beans (Fe-Beans) to improve iron status in Rwandan women. Methods: A total of 195 women (aged 18–27 y) with serum ferritin <20 mg/L were randomly assigned to receive either Fe-Beans, with 86 mg Fe/kg, or standard unfortified beans (Control-Beans), with 50 mg Fe/kg, 2 times/d for 128 d in Huye, Rwanda. Iron status was assessed by hemoglobin, serum ferritin, soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR), and body iron (BI); inflammation was assessed by serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and serum a1-acid glycoprotein (AGP). Anthropometric measurements were performed at baseline and at end line. Random weekly serial sampling was used to collect blood during the middle 8wk of the feeding trial. Mixed-effects regression analysis with repeated measurements was used to evaluate the effect of Fe-Beans compared with Control-Beans on iron biomarkers throughout the course of the study. Results: At baseline, 86% of subjects were iron-deficient (serum ferritin <15 mg/L) and 37% were anemic (hemoglobin <120 g/L). Both groups consumed an average of 336 g wet beans/d. The Fe-Beans group consumed 14.5 6 1.6 mg Fe/d from biofortified beans, whereas the Control-Beans group consumed 8.6 6 0.8 mg Fe/d from standard beans (P < 0.05). Repeated-measures analyses showed significant time-by-treatment interactions for hemoglobin, log serum ferritin, and BI (P < 0.05). The Fe-Beans group had significantly greater increases in hemoglobin (3.8 g/L), log serum ferritin (0.1 log mg/L), and BI (0.5 mg/kg) than did controls after 128 d. For every 1 g Fe consumed from beans over the 128 study days, there was a significant 4.2-g/L increase in hemoglobin (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The consumption of iron-biofortified beans significantly improved iron status in Rwandan women. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01594359. J Nutr doi: 10.3945/jn.115.224741.
Humidtropics cluster 4 project in Rwanda: Improving potato-based production systems to enhance productivity, nutrition, income, and gender equality: Training workshop on integrated potato crop management
(Report, 2016-06) Harahagazwe, D.; Cyamweshi, A.R.; Gafaranga, J.; Gakwavu, T.; Mukamurezi, G.; Ndacyayisenga, T.; Nshimiyimana, J.C.; Nzeyimana, F.
Household food insecurity among pregnant women in Africa RISING intervention communities of northern Ghana
(Poster, 2016-03-30) Saaka, M.; Oladele, J.
Improving food security, nutrition and gender empowerment.
(Poster, 2013) Nyekanyeka, T.; Kapalasa, E.; Chipungu, Felistus P.; Botha, B.; Abidin, P.E.
Engendered orange-fleshed sweetpotato project planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation: A learning kit. 1: Introduction: A comprehensive implementation plan
(Training Material, 2014) Mbabu, A.N.; Franca, Z.P.; Mulongo, G.; Munyua, H.M.; Ojwang, F.; Low, Jan W.
A synthesis of the Rwanda nutrition, markets and gender analysis 2015
(Report, 2015-12) Lung'aho, Mercy G.; Birachi, Eliud Abucheli; Butare, L.; Musoni, Augustine; Buruchara, Robin Arani
Rwanda Nutrition, Markets and Gender Analysis 2015: An integrated approach towards alleviating malnutrition among vulnerable populations in Rwanda
(Report, 2015-10) Lung'aho, Mercy G.; Birachi, Eliud Abucheli; Butare, L.; Musoni, Augustine; Muhinda M, JJ; Buruchara, Robin Arani
The Nutrition, Markets and Gender (NMG) Survey was conducted in Rwanda to investigate the causes of malnutrition in children under 24 months. The NMG Survey was informed by the 2010 Demographic Health Survey (DHS) for Rwanda that gave some insight into the knowledge and trend of malnutrition in the country for the period 2005 to 2010. The DHS results indicated a 6 percent decline in stunting among children under the age of five years. The key findings from the 2014/2015 DHS that followed the same delineation as the DHS 2010 provided the most current status of malnutrition in Rwanda and showed further overall improvements in child growth outcomes with 37.9 percent of children under five years classified as stunted. These results again indicated a 6.3 percent decline in stunting among children under the age of five years for the period 2010 to 2015. This progressive trend is a testament to the country’s commitments to prioritise nutrition issues and nutrition programmes in its development agenda. The Government of Rwanda, through the Ministry of Health, has prioritised malaria control, nutrition education, and better public healthcare. However, in spite of the advancements made, the consensus is that high rates of chronic malnutrition among children still prevail. Thus a better understanding of risk factors that contribute to child malnutrition at the household level in Rwanda was needed to strengthen the fight against malnutrition in the country. The ‘Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability and Nutrition Analysis’ – CFSVA 2012 – report produced by the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI), the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) and the World Food Programme (WFP) acknowledged that vulnerable households are increasingly reliant on markets as a source of food; providing on average 65 percent of the food consumed by a household. It is therefore clear that household nutrition outcomes in such households are dependent on markets. In addition, it is widely accepted that gender dynamics influence decision-making in the household. Thus gender dynamics affect decisions related to food, care, markets, and health. Therefore this survey focused on nutrition, markets, and gender to determine the factors that influence the nutrition status of children under 24 months. Moreover, a disconnect between agricultural production and nutrition outcomes was revealed in the CFSVA 2012 report that indicated that the northern agricultural zones, considered the bread basket of the country, had stunting rates of up to 66 percent in children under 60 months.
Gender-transformative approaches to address inequalities in food, nutrition and economic outcomes in aquatic agricultural systems
(Working Paper, 2014) Cole, Steven M.; Kantor, Paula; Sarapura, Silvia; Rajaratnam, Surendran
Exploring synergies between health and climate services: Assessing the feasibility of providing climate information to women farmers through health posts in Kaffrine, Senegal
(Working Paper, 2015-09-15) Poulsen E; Sakho M; McKune, Sarah; Russo, Sandra; Ndiaye, Ousmane
This report details the results of research undertaken in Kaffrine, Senegal in May and June of 2015, which explored the possibility of utilizing rural health posts as a channel of communication of climate information to female farmers. The hypothesis was that since health posts often aim to reach women and other vulnerable populations in rural areas, and because weather events often pose risks to human health, the health posts may have an interest in weather and climate information and may have the means to communicate this information to rural women. A total of 13 key informant interviews exploring this hypothesis were conducted in the Kaffrine region; nine at health posts, and four at other relevant organizations in the region. The interviewees indicated that all weather and climate information that could impact agriculture could also impact human health, and thus all health post staff interviewed expressed interest both in receiving forecasts and in distributing the information they receive. For example, because health posts organize major community health campaigns about malaria just prior to the rainy season each year, they are interested in receiving the forecasted start date of the rainy season, and in communicating this start date to the residents of their region. Many other examples of climate and human health overlap are explored in this report. Most interviewees indicated that they would prefer to receive climate information through email or text messages, and said that they would distribute the forecasts via the same channels that they utilize to distribute health information. These channels include community meetings, door-to-door visits, women’s association meetings, mosque loudspeakers, radio, television, and posters or other publicly displayed written information. All of these channels have a high probability of reaching women and other vulnerable populations in rural areas. This report details additional channels of communication that could be utilized by organizations in cases where the health posts are unable to communicate climate information.
An exploratory study of dairying intensification, women’s decision making, and time use and implications for child nutrition in Kenya
(Journal Article, 2016-09) Njuki, Jemimah; Wyatt, A.; Baltenweck, Isabelle; Yount, K.; Null, C.; Ramakrishnan, U.; Girard, Amy W.; Sreenath, S.
Dairy intensification as a development strategy is expected to improve household nutrition, yet the pathways by which this occurs are not well understood. This article examines how women’s time use and decision-making patterns related to dairy income and consumption are associated with dairy intensification, as a way of exploring the links between intensification and nutrition. Results from our mixed methods study conducted with households representing low, medium and high levels of dairy intensification in rural Kenya indicated that children in high-intensity households received more milk than children in medium-intensity households. While women seemed to be gaining control over evening milk sales decisions, men seemed to be increasingly controlling total dairy income, a trend countered by the increase in reported joint decision making. Women from medium-intensity households reported spending more time on dairy activities than women from high-intensity households. More research on how dairy interventions affect women is needed.
Bargaining power and biofortification: The role of gender in adoption of orange sweet potato in Uganda
(Working Paper, 2014-06-15) Gilligan, Daniel O.; Kumar, Neha; McNiven, Scott; Meenakshi, Jonnalagadda V.; Quisumbing, Agnes R.
We examine the role of gender in adoption and diffusion of orange sweet potato, a biofortified staple food crop being promoted as a strategy to increase dietary intakes of vitamin A among young children and adult women in Uganda. As an agricultural intervention with nutrition objectives, intrahousehold gender dynamics regarding decisions about crop choice and child feeding practices may play a role in adoption decisions. Also, most households access sweet potato vines through informal exchange, suggesting again that gender dimensions of networks may be important to diffusion of the crop. We use data from an experimental impact evaluation of the introduction of OSP in Uganda to study how female bargaining power, measured by share of land and nonland assets controlled by women, affect adoption and diffusion decisions. We find that the share of assets controlled by women does not affect the probability of adopting OSP at the household level. In examining adoption decisions within households, plots of land exclusively controlled by women are not more likely to contain OSP, but plots under joint control of men and women, in which a woman has primary control over decisionmaking are significantly more likely to contain OSP. Plots exclusively controlled by men are the least likely to contain OSP. Also, we find that the share of nonland assets controlled by women increases dietary intakes of vitamin A, but this measure of female bargaining power does not increase the impact of the OSP project on vitamin A, suggesting that the project had similar impacts across households with different levels of female bargaining power.
Can microplots contribute to rural households’ food security? Evaluation of a gender sensitive land allocation program in West Bengal, India.
(Case Study, 2014-07-15) Santos, F.
Landesa, a nongovernmental organization focused on land legislation and programming among poor populations, supports government land allocation and regularization programs in India. This study is based on Nijo Griha, Nijo Bhumi (“My Home, My Land” or NGNB), a program by the government of West Bengal, India that aims to reduce poverty by allocating microplots to landless agricultural laborers and assist with homestead development. NGNB works with local communities to purchase and allocate small plots of land, with titles issued jointly under the names of the husband and the wife. In addition, NGNB helps beneficiaries connect with other government agencies responsible for the provision of assistance with housing and basic inputs, capacity building in homestead food production, and investments in infrastructure. This study evaluated the NGNB program and is result of collaboration between Landesa and the Gender, Agriculture and Assets Project (GAAP). The project examined how land ownership and joint titling affect households’ tenure security and agricultural investments, as well aswomen’s involvement in food and agricultural decision-making—outcomes that when enhanced are expected to lead to increased household food production and long-¬term food security.
Gender perspectives on food safety and nutrition in informal small ruminant value chains in Ethiopia
(Report, 2014-08-30) Haile, T.; Mulema, Annet A.
Dietary contribution of wild edible plants to women's diets in the buffer zone around the Lama forest, Benin - an underutilized potential
(Journal Article, 2014-12) Boedecker, J.; Termote, Céline; Assogbadjo, A.E.; Damme, Patrick van; Lachat, Carl
Rural populations in developing countries face food insecurity and malnutrition despite being surrounded by extraordinary biodiversity. The international community increasingly recognizes the role of agro-biodiversity and Wild Edible Plants (WEPs) in their contributions to managing risk and building resilience and sustainable food systems. Studies on real contributions of WEPs to peoples’ diets, however, are uncommon. This study assessed the contribution of WEPs to diets of women living in the buffer zone of the Lama forest in southern Benin. During the long dry season, a cross-sectional survey was carried out on 120 women, covering their knowledge and attitudes towards WEPs and two non-consecutive 24-h recalls of their WEP consumption. Contribution of WEPs to total dietary intake was low due to infrequent use and small portion sizes. The highest nutrient contributions of WEPs measured were for copper (13.9 %) and iron (4.6 %) but the majority of the women had intake values below the Estimated Average Requirements (EARs) for these elements - copper 65 % and iron 91 % Women’s dietary diversity was significantly higher among WEP consumers than non-consumers, mainly due to higher consumption of dark green leafy vegetables. WEPs were less consumed as a replacement for other foods but rather as a complement to the diet. The study population generally appreciated WEPs, while some constraints were reported regarding preparation, conservation and commercialization. Before widely promoting WEP consumption in order to exploit their dietary potential, additional investigations are needed into their nutrient composition, cultural and market value, their sustainable harvest levels and possible integration into innovative farming systems.

Browse

Recent Submissions