Elsevier

Food Policy

Volume 97, December 2020, 101956
Food Policy

Subsistence production, markets, and dietary diversity in the Kenyan small farm sector

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2020.101956Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Highlights

  • Relationship between farm production diversity and dietary diversity analyzed in Kenya.

  • Small positive association in general, but different partial effects identified.

  • Production diversity has positive partial effect on food diversity obtained from subsistence.

  • Production diversity has negative partial effect on food diversity obtained from the market.

  • Strengthening markets is a key strategy to make small farm systems more nutrition-sensitive.

Abstract

Undernutrition and low dietary quality remain widespread problems in poor population segments, especially among smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. Hence, the question how smallholder systems can be made more nutrition-sensitive is of particular relevance for research and policy. Recent studies analyzed whether increasing farm production diversity may help to improve nutrition. Most existing studies found a positive but small effect on dietary diversity on average. The underlying mechanisms were not examined in detail. This article tests the hypothesis that the effect of farm diversity on nutrition is small because production diversity is positively associated with dietary diversity obtained from subsistence production but negatively associated with dietary diversity obtained from the market. This hypothesis is confirmed with data from Kenya, using different indicators of production diversity and dietary diversity scores at household and individual levels. The results underline the important role of markets for smallholder diets and nutrition. Hence, strengthening markets and improving market access should be a key strategy to make smallholder systems more nutrition-sensitive.

Keywords

Nutrition-sensitive agriculture
Malnutrition
Food security
Smallholder farmers
Africa

JEL Classification

I15
O12
Q12

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