Does Crop Diversity Influence Household Food Security and Women's Individual Dietary Diversity? A Cross-Sectional Study of Malawian Farmers in a Participatory Agroecology and Nutrition Project.

BACKGROUND: Agroecological methods have the potential to impact nutrition and food security, however, to date there is limited research evaluating this approach. OBJECTIVE: A 5-year participatory research project with farming households in north and central Malawi was designed to train farmers on agroecological practices, alongside raising awareness on nutrition and gender equity. This cross-sectional study aimed to explore the relationships between crop diversity, food security at the household level, and individual diversity for women, within the context of an agroecology, nutrition education, and farmer mentoring program. METHODS: Participating farmers were trained in and experimented with different farming methods. These farmers subsequently trained other farmers on these short-term agroecological practices and provided mentorship using community-based educational methods designed to address both household food security and nutrition. In year 4 of the intervention, a cross-sectional survey assessed farm practices, food security, and individual dietary diversity of 851 participating households. RESULTS: Households with lower crop diversity were significantly less likely to be food secure (odds ratios [OR] = 0.829, P < .001). Women in households with higher crop diversity were more likely to have higher individual dietary diversity (OR = 1.120, P < .01), eat vitamin A rich foods (OR = 1.176, P < .01), and legumes, nuts, and seeds (OR = 1.141, P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that within a participatory agroecological training combined with community-based nutrition education with a focus on social equity, crop diversity is associated with less household food insecurity and poorer diet quality for rural farming households. Crop diversity may improve dietary diversity by making nutritious foods more available.

Agroecology and household production diversity and dietary diversity: Evidence from a five-year agroecological intervention in rural Malawi.

Following a decade of declining food insecurity, the global undernourished population has increased successively in the last three years. This increasing trend highlights the challenge of meeting the zero hunger and nutrition targets of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2. Malawi is one of the most food insecure countries in Africa, with a significant proportion of its population being undernourished. Amid evidence of the counter-productive effects of input-intensive agriculture in this context, including the narrowing of the food basket and unequal access to subsidized inputs, some scholars have argued that alternative diversified agricultural approaches, combined with attention to underlying inequalities, maybe more promising in addressing undernutrition. Agroecology is one such approach which promotes biodiversity and pays attention to socio-political inequalities. That notwithstanding, there is limited research on the potential role of agroecology in improving household food outcomes. Drawing theoretical insights from political ecology and using Difference-in-Difference and mediation techniques, we examine the impact of agroecology on household production diversity and dietary diversity using data from a five-year agroecological intervention in Malawi (n = 514 agroecology-practicing farming households and 400 non-agroecology households). Findings from the Difference-in-Difference analysis show a positive treatment effect of agroecology on both production diversity (ß = 0.289, p < 0.01) and dietary diversity (ß = 0.390, p < 0.01). Results from the mediation analysis indicate that generally, production diversity is directly associated with dietary diversity (ß = 0.18, p < 0.01), although the relationship is stronger for households practicing agroecology (ß = 0.19, p < 0.01) compared to non-agroecology households (ß = 0.14, p < 0.01). These findings provide evidence of the potential for agroecology to improve nutrition in smallholder farming contexts and contribute to achieving SDGs 2. Malawi is currently grappling with widespread micronutrient deficiencies. Given that smallholder farmers typically draw a significant proportion of their diet from what they produce, farming approaches like agroecology, which emphasizes the cultivation of diverse crops, may be promising for improving household nutrition.

Agroecology and healthy food systems in semi-humid tropical Africa: Participatory research with vulnerable farming households in Malawi.

This paper assesses the relationship between agroecology, food security, and human health. Specifically, we ask if agroecology can lead to improved food security and human health among vulnerable smallholder farmers in semi-humid tropical Africa. The empirical evidence comes from a cross-sectional household survey (n=1000) in two districts in Malawi, a small country in semi-humid, tropical Africa. The survey consisted of 571 agroecology-adoption and 429 non-agroecology-adoption households. Ordered logistics regression and average treatment effects models were used to determine the effect of agroecology adoption on self-reported health. Our results show that agroecology-adoption households (OR=1.37, p=0.05) were more likely to report optimal health status, and the average treatment effect shows that adopters were 12% more likely to be in optimal health. Furthermore, being moderately food insecure (OR=0.59, p=0.05) and severely food insecure (OR=0.89, p=0.10) were associated with less likelihood of reporting optimal health status. The paper concludes that with the adoption of agroecology in the semi-humid tropics, it is possible for households to diversify their crops and diets, a condition that has strong implications for improved food security, good nutrition and human health.

"We grandmothers know plenty": breastfeeding, complementary feeding and the multifaceted role of grandmothers in Malawi.

This paper has two purposes: first of all, we examine grandmothers' role and views of child feeding practices in northern Malawi, and their influence on younger women's practices. Secondly, we consider the implications of these findings for health promotion activities and models of health education. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews, focus groups and a participatory workshop. Findings demonstrate that, to address child feeding practices which have an effect on nutrition, attention must be paid to the broader context that influences child nutrition, including extended family relations. Paternal grandmothers have a powerful and multifaceted role within the extended family in northern Malawi, both in terms of childcare and in other arenas such as agricultural practices and marital relations. Grandmothers often differ in their ideas about early child feeding from conventional Western medicine. Some practices have existed in the area at least since colonial times, and have strong cultural significance. Despite the important integrated role, older women have within households and communities in this part of Malawi, hospital personnel often have disparaging and paternalistic attitudes towards 'grannies' and their knowledge. Health education rarely involves grandmothers, and even if they are involved, their perspectives are not taken into consideration. Hospital staff often reject grandmother knowledge as part of a broader modernization paradigm which views 'traditional knowledge' as backward. Grandmothers view current child health conditions within a broader context of changing livelihood conditions and a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS. The paper concludes by discussing the challenges of involving grandmothers in health education, and the difficulties of incorporating local knowledge into a medical system that largely rejects it.