Singh Samrat, Fernandes Meenakshi
Partnership for Child Development, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, Norfolk Place, London W2 1NY, UK.
Food Secur. 2018;10:111-119. doi: 10.1007/s12571-017-0760-5. Epub 2018 Jan 29.
The consumption of some non-staple crops such as legumes and dark, green leafy vegetables can address common deficiencies in key nutrients such as vitamin A and iron; however, limited markets and supply chain development impede their production and accessibility to consumers. This study investigates the pathways to promote agricultural production and dietary diversity for a local market intervention called Home-Grown School Feeding (HGSF). School feeding menus from 24 districts across 10 regions in Ghana during the 2014-15 school year were analysed in terms of food groups and several individual foods. The menus were then compared with food groups produced by households during the past year or consumed in the past seven days using data collected from a household survey. Greater inter-food group diversity in the menus was associated with higher production levels for tubers and dark, leafy green vegetables in the South and cereals in the North. A correspondence between the frequency in which a food group appeared in a menu and the share of households who consumed foods from the food group was also noted. Key issues, such as optimizing supply chains, enabling farm linkages and supporting diverse nutrient rich food groups, that underlie the success of Home-Grown School Feeding and other agricultural policies with similar goals of promoting production and dietary diversity are highlighted through commodity specific examples. The findings of this study may help strengthen operational linkages between agriculture production and nutrition for HGSF and other similar interventions.
食用一些非主食作物,如豆类和深色绿叶蔬菜,可以解决维生素A和铁等关键营养素的常见缺乏问题;然而,有限的市场和供应链发展阻碍了它们的生产以及消费者的可获取性。本研究调查了促进农业生产和饮食多样性的途径,以进行一项名为“本土学校供餐”(HGSF)的地方市场干预措施。对加纳10个地区24个区在2014 - 15学年的学校供餐菜单按食物类别和几种单一食物进行了分析。然后,利用从家庭调查收集的数据,将这些菜单与家庭在过去一年生产或过去七天消费的食物类别进行比较。菜单中食物类别之间更大的多样性与南部块茎和深色绿叶蔬菜以及北部谷物的更高产量水平相关。还注意到食物类别在菜单中出现的频率与消费该食物类别的家庭比例之间的对应关系。通过特定商品的例子强调了一些关键问题,如优化供应链、建立农场联系以及支持各种营养丰富的食物类别,这些是“本土学校供餐”和其他具有促进生产和饮食多样性类似目标的农业政策取得成功的基础。本研究的结果可能有助于加强“本土学校供餐”及其他类似干预措施在农业生产与营养之间的业务联系。