The current state of food and nutrition (in-)security in developing countries illustrates the inequalities and challenges facing the world today (UN, 2017). Food security describes “a situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (FAO et al., 2017). The FAO (2008) set out four dimensions for guaranteeing food security (Table 1).
Table 1: Food security dimensions
Physical availability
Food availability addresses the “supply side” and is determined by the level of food production, stock levels and net trade.
Economical and physical access
An adequate supply of food at the national or international level does not in itself guarantee household level food security. Concerns about insufficient food access have resulted in a greater policy focus on incomes, expenditure, markets and prices in achieving food security objectives.
Utilization of food
Utilisation is commonly understood as the way the body harnesses nutrients.
Sufficient energy and nutrient intake by individuals are the result of good care and feeding practices, food preparation, dietary diversity and intra-household distribution of food. Combined with proper handling of consumed food, this determines the nutritional status of individuals.
Stability of the other dimensions
Even if one’s food intake is adequate today, one is still considered to be food insecure if one has inadequate access to food on a periodic basis, risking a deterioration of nutritional status. Besides periodic shortages (hungry season), adverse weather conditions, political instability and economic factors (unemployment, rising food prices) may have an impact on food security status.
Source: FAO, 2008.
The term food and nutrition security (FNS) includes the “secure access to an appropriately nutritious diet coupled with a sanitary environment, adequate health services and care […] to ensure a healthy and active life” (FAO et al., 2017).
Food and nutrition insecurity follow cyclical patterns of insufficient access and availability to food (FAO, 2008) and manifests in the (recurrence) of the so-called
“hungry-season”.
The hungry season4 describes the phenomenon when food stocks deplete and income opportunities decline prior to the harvest season. Rural households in both project regions strongly rely on their agricultural production for food and nutrition security and income generation. Usually, labour demand is low when labour force is available. As almost all farms are managed in a similar way, casual work opportunities on other farms are difficult to find.
Since the farming systems are mostly rain-fed, farmers depend on the annual precipitation pattern. Therefore, climate change and erratic rainfalls increasingly threaten smallholders’ existence.
Smallholders face several challenges in achieving sustainable production quantities throughout the year:
▪ Soil mining / nutrient depletion is considered the biophysical root cause of low or declining yields. Studies confirm a relationship between cropping patterns, erosion and low fertilisation and soil mining (Drechsel et al., 2001).
▪ Limited labour force. Agricultural and especially horticultural production are labour intensive and many households cannot allocate enough time to field work, particularly during the hungry season. Furthermore, mechanization is rare and only few households use draught animals (such as oxen) for ploughing.
▪ Population growth is high. Though a high population density can trigger an increase in productivity, many households lack access to fertile and arable land. Densely populated, Togo’s Maritime region is particularly prone to land scarcity: households can only work on less than 1 ha and have very limited possibilities to extent their fields.
▪ Contracyclical market behaviour: Products are often sold off immediately after harvest at low prices because households are in desperate need of cash (i.e. to pay the school fees and to pay off credits). Prices then skyrocket when food stocks run out, and individuals who formerly sold produce have to buy it back at much higher prices (Neubert et al., 2011).
4 In Eastern Province, the hungry season typically occurs from October to March. In Maritime, it occurs from January to April.
▪ Post-harvest losses: Poor storage of surplus can lead to post-harvest losses of up to 40 % (Interview WFP). However, many households do not produce enough to store sufficient quantities for the whole year.
This vicious circle leads to coping or (mal-) adaptation strategies (i.e. meal skipping, selling of livestock, migration) which - in the longer run - increase food and nutrition insecurity among rural households. This period is characterised by a negative energy balance, especially among pregnant women, and associated with a lower average birth weight. Furthermore, malaria and diarrheal diseases peak during hungry season and pose additional risks to mothers, foetuses and infants (Moore et al., 1999).
Micro-nutrient deficiency
Hunger5 and limited income determine not only the insufficient quantity of food intake but also the lack of dietary diversity. Combined, they result in malnutrition.
The causes of malnutrition are deficiencies, excesses and imbalances of micronutrient intake (FAO, 2008). Malnutrition has different forms and leads to stunting, wasting and overweight (Table 2: Forms of malnutrition).
Stunting replaced underweight in the monitoring of the achievements in the fight against child undernutrition (UNICEF, 2013). Children who are stunted early in life are at higher risk of catching common infections and are more vulnerable to morbidity. The symptoms can be severe, and recovery delayed. In the long term, stunting causes poor physical growth and diminished cognitive abilities. Stunting can lead to decreased productivity and minimizes economic earnings over a lifetime (WHO, 2017). The decline in stunting in Sub-Sahara Africa was the lowest in the world between 1970 and 2010, and only amounted to 13.2 % (Smith and Haddad, 2015).
5 Hunger is defined as food deprivation. Commonly it is understood as insufficient food energy consumption.
While in recent decades the global starving population has decreased, the number of people suffering from hunger in sub-Sahara Africa today is higher than ever (Evang and Kuchenbecker, 2015).
Table 2: Forms of malnutrition
Malnutrition in its different forms
Stunting Stunting is the impaired growth and development that children experience from poor nutrition, repeated infection, and inadequate psychosocial stimulation. Children are defined as stunted if their height is more than two standard deviations below the WHO Child Growth Standards median for their age (Smith and Haddad 2015). The global share of children suffering from stunting declined from 39.6 % (1990) to 23.8 % (2014) (WHO, 2015).
Wasting Wasting refers to a child who is too thin for his/her height. Wasting is the result of acute malnutrition where a child does not get enough calories from food and faces an immediate risk of death. In 2014, about 7 % of children are considered
“wasted” (WHO, 2015)
Overweight Overweight and obesity are defined as the ''abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health'' (WHO, 2015). The global overweight prevalence increased between 1990 and 2014, from 4.8 to 6.1 %.
Source: WHO, 2015; Smith and Haddad, 2015.
Table 3 shows figures on food and nutrition security in the two project countries.
Zambia has one of the highest levels of dietary inequality worldwide. Both countries have a lower protein and fat supply than other countries in Sub-Sahara Africa where the average daily protein and fat intake is 69.1 g/day/person and 54.46 g/day/person, respectively. In terms of micro-nutrient deficiencies, the target group in Zambia and Togo has a high prevalence in Vitamin A- and Zinc-deficiency.
Annex 12.1 “Anaemia is critically high in both countries” (p. 179) gives an overview on related micro-nutrient deficiencies.
Table 3: Indicators of food and nutrition security in Zambia and Togo
Facts on dietary intake in Zambia and Togo Zambia Togo Coefficient of variation (CV) caloric intake6 (Roser and Ritchie, 2014) 0.43 0.29 Daily per capita protein supply (Roser and Ritchie, 2014; g/day/person) 7 55.2 59.79 Daily per capita fat supply(Roser and Ritchie, 2014; in g/day/person) 42.05 47.59 Vitamin-A deficient pregnant women (in %; WHO, 2009)8 14.0 19.9 Vitamin-A deficient children (in %; WHO, 2009) 9 54.1 35.0 Zinc deficiency (in %; Wessels and Brown, 2012) 10 44.9 25.8 Vitamin A supplementation coverage rate in children (in %; WB, 2014)11 6 93
Anaemia in women aged 15–49 (in %; WB, 2014) 33.7 48.9
Source: Roser and Ritchie, 2014; WHO, 2009; Wessels and Brown, 2012; WB 2014.