Dataset Information

Effect of passive solar drying on food security in rural Mozambique.

ABSTRACT: Achieving food security in Mozambique is critical, since 80% of the population cannot afford an adequate diet. While increasing agricultural production is a necessary effort to address this challenge, inadequate post-harvest treatment leads to storage losses and quality degradation, with repercussions for food security. The use of solar drying is promoted as a solution to provide efficient and reliable access to food preservation that improves the food security situation in rural communities. However, there is a lack of clear evidence on how the use or access to solar drying affects food security. This study identifies the determinants of farmers' choice to use solar drying and evaluates the effect of a passive solar dryer on food security using survey data from 634 households. We allocated solar dryers to selected communities and all interested individuals belonging to these communities were eligible to use it. Propensity score matching and endogenous switching poisson regression are used to estimate the average effect. The use of solar drying with associated training significantly increases the food security status of participants by increasing household food availability, women's dietary diversity, and months of adequate household food provision and by decreasing the household food insecurity access scale.

SUBMITTER: Matavel C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9561633 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Effect of passive solar drying on food security in rural Mozambique.

Matavel Custodio C Kächele Harald H Steinke Jonathan J Rybak Constance C Hoffmann Harry H Salavessa João J Sieber Stefan S Müller Klaus K

Scientific reports 20221013 1

Achieving food security in Mozambique is critical, since 80% of the population cannot afford an adequate diet. While increasing agricultural production is a necessary effort to address this challenge, inadequate post-harvest treatment leads to storage losses and quality degradation, with repercussions for food security. The use of solar drying is promoted as a solution to provide efficient and reliable access to food preservation that improves the food security situation in rural communities. Ho ...[more]

PMID: 36229492

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Project description:BackgroundThe prevalence of food insecurity in Mozambique is alarming, despite progress made during the 2010s. Several studies apply different proxy indicators of food security (FS) to assess the FS situation. However, these studies overlook the factors affecting FS, using only a single data point that results in an incomplete picture of FS. Food security is expected to fluctuate, being better and worse than what studies suggest. Using a sample of 296 households to assess FS, key drivers conditioning households' capacity to achieve FS in Gurué District, Central Mozambique, are identified. Data were collected in the pre-harvest period and during the harvest period to capture relevant interseasonal variation of FS. Household FS is assessed using three standard indicators: Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS), Household Food Consumption Score (HFCS), and Months of Adequate Household Food Provisioning (MAHFP).ResultsEach household was classified into a specific FS status depending on the indicator applied. Generally, most households were classified as being severely or moderately food insecure during the pre-harvest season, while during the harvest season, medium and high levels of FS predominated. Nevertheless, varying outcomes were found depending on the indicator used to assess FS. MAHFP and HDDS are more related to the consumption of farm-sourced food, while HFCS responds more strongly to purchased food. Gender and age of the household head, geographic location, size and quality of land, staples production (especially cassava), livestock and crop diversity, as well as cash crops had a statistically significant effect on FS indicators.ConclusionsThe study concludes that the decision whether farmers should rely on staple foods production for increasing their FS status or specialize on cash crops production to generate income and buy food depends on the indicator used to assess FS, since each indicator captures a specific domain of food security. Thus, one central recommendation derived from our results is that policy makers should promote a balance between market-oriented agriculture and subsistence production to achieve FS.Supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40066-021-00344-3.

Project description:Despite achieving remarkable progress, food insecurity remains a major public health challenge in Bangladesh, and severe food insecurity status has not been reduced in susceptible areas and vulnerable regions in Bangladesh. Wetlands that are susceptible to flooding can be found in Bangladesh's north-eastern Sylhet division. Suchana, a large-scale nutrition programme, implemented nutrition-specific and sensitive interventions in poor and very poor households in Sylhet and Moulvibazar districts in the north-eastern region of Bangladesh. The aim of this article is to assess the association between the Suchana intervention and household food security status among poor and very poor households in north-eastern rural Bangladesh using the Suchana baseline and endline survey databases. The baseline survey was conducted between November 2016 and February 2017, while the endline survey was undertaken 3 years later, during the same months. The outcome variable in this analysis was household food security status, which was measured using the Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance's Guideline. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data; after controlling for the union as a cluster and relevant covariates, a multiple multinomial logistic regression model was used to estimate the independent effect of the Suchana intervention as an exposure. Overall, 14.0% of households were food secure at the baseline survey (intervention: 14.1%, control: 14.0%) and 22.0% were food secure (intervention: 26.6%, control: 20.2%) at the endline survey. For households in the intervention area in comparison to the control area, the odds of being moderately food insecure [aOR: 1.36 (1.05, 1.76), p < 0.05], mildly food insecure [aOR: 1.83 (1.33, 2.51), p < 0.001], or food secure [aOR: 2.21 (1.47, 3.33), p < 0.001] compared to being severely food insecure was significantly higher. Thus, we infer that the 3 years of Suchana intervention marginally increased household food security status among the socio-economically disadvantaged population in north-eastern rural Bangladesh. If concerns regarding gender equity, women's education, and income-generating activities are addressed, the population could experience even greater benefits in food security. In order to overcome these challenges, all stakeholders including programme implementers and policymakers should work together to implement the appropriate measures.

Dataset Information

Effect of passive solar drying on food security in rural Mozambique.

Publications

Effect of passive solar drying on food security in rural Mozambique.

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