Implementation of nutrition-sensitive agriculture in the central province of Zambia
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Date
2015
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Sokoine University of Agriculture
Abstract
The Central Province of Zambia contains the majority of the nation’s malnourished
children, despite being the most productive province in terms of Agriculture. Most
studies focused on household food consumption rather than the linkages between
agriculture performance and nutrition outcomes of the population. In light of this
knowledge gap, this study focused on the linkage between nutrition and agriculture.
The study assessed the extent to which the Ministiy of Agriculture in Zambia is
implementing the best practices of nutrition-sensitive agriculture in the Central
Province. Data was collected from 356 randomly selected farming households using
structured questionnaire. The data contained information on socio-demographic
characteristics,
crop
diversity,
women
empowerment
and
anthropometric
(height/length, weight) measurements for the children aged 6-59 months. Three
transect walks and nine focus group discussions were also conducted in the sampled
district. The study also reviewed five project and policy documents. Two were
project documents of the agricultural development programmes in central Zambia,
while 3 were national policies. The prevalence rates of stunting, underweight, and
wasting among children were 21.2%, 9%, and 2%, respectively. There was a
significant relationship between household crops grown in households and Z-scores
for HAZ and WAZ (p< 0.05). One variable of women empowerment, namely access
to credit or income opportunities, was also significantly related with Z-scores for
WHZ (p < 0.05). The Ministry of Agriculture in Central province has a lot to do in
order to implement Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture and reduce stunting in Central
Province.
Description
Thesis
Keywords
Sensitive agriculture, Zambia, MEDICINE::Physiology and pharmacology::Physiology::Nutrition