Does participation in livelihood education programs impact household food security? A comparative study in rural Uganda

Abstract

Food and nutrition security projections from global to household levels show that the future requires multifaceted approaches to achieve desired goals. In Uganda, the government has tried several strate­gies to promote food production, including a public-private partnership with Iowa State Univer­sity through its Center for Sustainable Rural Liveli­hoods. In this comparative study, we surveyed 454 households to explore whether participation in livelihood education programs (LEPs) impact household food security. We also determine which LEPs and household characteristics influence food security. Overall, 46.3% of the surveyed house­holds were food secure, while the remaining were insecure or extremely insecure. Significantly, 51.0% of LEP participants were more food secure, com­pared to 35.5% of nonparticipants. Specific LEPs including agronomy and postharvest technologies, and livestock integration significantly influence food security, but less so for programs on nutrition and infant feeding, water supply and public health, complementary services like therapeutic porridge and assistance with immunization, and income innovations. Multinomial logistic regression analy­sis revealed that the household characteristics of keeping livestock and the number of meals eaten during periods of scarcity, influenced households having more food security than insecurity or extreme insecurity. Households participating in LEPs, having larger acreage of land, and having clean water and sanitation facilities were more food secure. The time taken to fetch water, days of ill­ness of male adults, and belonging to community social groups, also influence the level of household food security. Based on these findings, we recom­mend that households should participate in LEPs to build their capacity to manage crop and live­stock production, and also to acquire knowledge of nutrition and feeding, public health, and income innovations.

Nutrition education centers: A community-based approach to management of malnutrition

“…The school feeding initiative aims to improve nutrition among pupils by providing meals using contributions of maize and beans from parents and programs, and products from school gardens (Byaruhanga, 2016;Nonnecke et al, 2015;2016). This commentary discusses the NECs, community-based rehabilitation homes that aim to help end hunger and malnutrition in Kamuli district, Uganda (Ikendi, Owusu, Masinde, Oberhauser, & Bain, 2023b, 2023cMasinde, McMillan et al, 2015). Community members volunteer their homes for the CSRL/ISU-UP to set up the NECs based on demand and the availability of funds.…”

“…Mothers are either pregnant or breastfeeding. Infants (0−24 months) and children (24−59 months) of age are (a) breastfeeding and on therapeutic porridge (details below), (b) infants less than six months old on exclusive breastfeeding who enrolled with their mothers, (c) babies born at the NECs to at-risk-for-malnutrition pregnant mothers during their rehabilitation, and/or (d) malnourished children-the NEC only enroll children suffering from moderate acute malnutrition (Ikendi, Owusu, Masinde, Oberhauser, & Bain, 2023b) and the rest of the children come along with their mothers. Both mothers, infants, and children are referred to the NECs by either community leaders, healthcare nurses when mothers go for routine care and treatments, NEC trainers during community monitoring work, ISU-UP staff during fieldwork, NEC hosts, and/or fellow mothers.…”

“…Mothers who live far away, are given packed flour to cook at home (details below). Up to 89.6% (n=283) of 316 CSRL/ISU-UP households in this study received some services, including therapeutic porridge, nutrition and health information, immunization during community outreach on clinic days or at the NECs, HIV/AIDS testing, and counseling and/or family planning conducted with assistance from government healthcare nurses Ikendi, Owusu, Masinde, Oberhauser, & Bain, 2023b).…”

“…The model involves the lives of all people, from pregnancy to seniors, through interrelated livelihood programs. These programs include agronomy and postharvest management (Ikendi, Owusu, Masinde, Bain, & Oberhauser, 2023), livestock integration (Ikendi, Owusu, Masinde, Oberhauser, & Bain, 2023a;Masinde, McMillan et al, 2015), nutrition and infant feeding, and water supply hygiene and public health education Ikendi, Owusu, Masinde, Oberhauser, & Bain 2023b;Masinde, McMillan et al, 2015;Winham et al, 2016), school gardens and global servicelearning Nonnecke et al, 2015;2016), and community income-generating innovations (Ikendi, 2019;Martin, 2018).…”

Evaluation of horticultural practices for tropical squash production and marketing among smallholder youth farmers in Kamuli, Uganda

“…Over reliance on staple crops causes low diet diversity and is a risk for micronutrient deficiencies and undernutrition among rural communities of Uganda . Kamuli district, in Eastern Uganda, where squash can be produced , has 36.6% of its total population undernourished (Ikendi, 2019;Musasizi et al, 2018) Despite their potential, tropical squash in Uganda is not widely grown, yet could improve the nutritional intake and generate farm income . Tropical squash are multipurpose vegetables that may be cooked and eaten as a leafy vegetable and a mature fruit; the seeds may be roasted and eaten as a snack or pounded into a paste; and the flesh may be processed further to make other products like bread and desserts (Seymen et al, 2019).…”