Developing fruit tree portfolios that link agriculture more effectively with nutrition and health: a new approach for providing year-round micronutrients to smallholder farmers

Stepha McMullin (), Ken Njogu, Brendah Wekesa, Agnes Gachuiri, Erick Ngethe, Barbara Stadlmayr, Ramni Jamnadass and Katja Kehlenbeck
Additional contact information
Stepha McMullin: World Agroforestry (ICRAF)
Ken Njogu: World Agroforestry (ICRAF)
Brendah Wekesa: World Agroforestry (ICRAF)
Agnes Gachuiri: World Agroforestry (ICRAF)
Erick Ngethe: World Agroforestry (ICRAF)
Barbara Stadlmayr: World Agroforestry (ICRAF)
Ramni Jamnadass: World Agroforestry (ICRAF)
Katja Kehlenbeck: Rhine Waal University of Applied Sciences

Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, 2019, vol. 11, issue 6, No 14, 1355-1372

Abstract: Abstract A sufficient intake of fruits can alleviate micronutrient deficiencies and reduces the risks of a number of associated diseases. In many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, however, the production and consumption of fruits are inadequate on average and in particular so in specific seasons. To better incorporate fruits into local food systems while addressing the challenge of seasonal availability, World Agroforestry (ICRAF) has developed a methodology based on “fruit tree portfolios” that selects socio-ecologically suitable and nutritionally important fruit tree species for farm production, to meet local consumption needs. We here present this approach and illustrate it with data from a case study involving Western and Eastern Kenya. The approach uses mixed methods to capture on-farm fruit tree diversity and seasonality at a household level (n = 600 in our case study), the months of household’s food security and insecurity (n = 600) and food consumption patterns at an individual level, to identify dietary gaps (n = 294 women and child pairs in our example). In our case study, 31 fruit tree species were reported on farms in our Western Kenya sample (9 of which were indigenous) and 51 (27 indigenous) in Eastern Kenya. In addition, the median number of food-insecure months per household was four (ranging from 0 to 9 months) in Eastern Kenya and three (0 to 12 months) in Western Kenya. Finally, using 24-h recalls the proportion of women that had consumed a fruit the day before the interview was around 55% in Western Kenya and 80% in Eastern Kenya, with consumption averaging 93 and 131 g, respectively. Using these parameters for each site and fruit tree phenology and food composition data sets, we derived context-specific recommendations that involve promoting 11 fruit tree species to address micronutrient gaps.

Keywords: Nutrition-sensitive agriculture; diversified diets; food-based approach; hidden hunger; seasonal availability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12571-019-00970-7 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:ssefpa:v:11:y:2019:i:6:d:10.1007_s12571-019-00970-7

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... ulture/journal/12571

DOI: 10.1007/s12571-019-00970-7

Access Statistics for this article

Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food is currently edited by R.N. Strange

More articles in Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food from Springer, The International Society for Plant Pathology
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().