Contribution of vegetables to household diets along the urban-rural continuum in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Malnutrition remains high in the Sudano-Sahel region of sub-Saharan Africa, with women and children being the most vulnerable.
Nutrition-sensitive agriculture has been proposed as a strategy to address the growing scourge of malnutrition.
Dietary diversification with vegetables offers a functional, complementary strategy to other known approaches that aim to combat micronutrient malnutrition.
A field survey of 240 households based on the transect approach of data collection was carried out in and around Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, to understand the dynamics of urban, peri-urban and rural agriculture and its association with household nutrition insecurity along the urban-rural continuum.
The respondents included 179 women of reproductive age (15-49 years). Household dietary diversity was assessed using Women’s Dietary Diversity Scores (WDDS). Cereals and spices, condiments and beverages were the most consumed food groups.
More households in rural areas consumed dark green leafy vegetables (78%) compared to peri-urban (60%) and urban areas (45%). Results showed significant variations in household consumption levels of different food groups and between spatial entities along the continuum.
Households in peri-urban and rural locations were found to consume more own-produced vegetables and staple crops compared to urban households.
Most own-produced consumption in peri-urban and rural households took place in both wet and dry seasons.
Most dry season vegetable production was mainly for marketing purposes, with a majority of households selling more than 50% of their produce.
Households in peri-urban areas (32%) had the highest proportion of limited dietary diversity (WDDS≤3) compared to urban areas (30%) and rural areas (25%). All in all, vegetable production and consumption contributed to higher household dietary diversity and had a spatial dimension that was highly influenced by the degree of urbanisation, which should be taken into consideration in policy formulation and implementation.

International Symposia on Tropical and Temperate Horticulture – ISTTH2016

T. Chagomoka, A. Drescher, G. Nyandoro, V. Afari-Sefa, J. Schlesinger, E.B. Nchanji

vegetable production, consumption, dietary diversity, food groups, urban-rural continuum, Ouagadougou

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2018.1205.10