Drivers of Food Choice among Pastoral/Agro-Pastoral Community in Somali Regional State, Eastern Ethiopia

Abstract

Background. Although nutritional problems are among the Ethiopian government’s priorities, the progress of nutritional indicators in the pastoral/agro-pastoral community is below the national figure. This could be because of poor food choice decisions, which remains poorly understood. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the drivers of food choice among the pastoral/agro-pastoral community of Somali Regional State, Eastern Ethiopia. Materials and Methods. A qualitative study was conducted among 16 Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) and six Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) from May 7 to 27, 2018. Participants were selected purposefully. Native speakers of Somali language, who had previous qualitative data collection experience, collected the data. The overall collected data were cleaned, coded, sorted, categorized, and analyzed line-by-line. Content analysis was used to drive the key themes and sub-themes. Results. The study found that the commonest food item usually consumed by the community was porridge (“Shurow”), which is made from wheat or corn flour. The porridge is sometimes mixed with milk or butter. Besides, they consume boiled bean, wheat or sorghum (“Garaw”) that is mixed with oil or sugar. However, the consumption of fruits and vegetables was rare and seasonal. These all indicate that their feeding habit was monotonous with poor food choice decisions. The reported driving factors of food choice included drought, income, cost, availability and quality of foods, market access, familiarity with new foods, knowledge of nutritious foods, and health status of individuals. Conclusions. The food choice of the community was poor in the study area. Therefore, the health and agricultural sectors should work together to improve the feeding habits of this community by improving their knowledge and the availability of nutritious foods.

Drivers of food choices among households in Kersa District, Eastern Ethiopia

“…This study indicated that price, convenience, availability, household preference, household food production, food quality, and advertisement are important drivers of food choice. This is similar with other studies ndings in Ethiopia (38)(39)(40). Food choice factors are variable across populations and regions due to cultural diversity and socio-economic differences (29,30,36).…”

“…The present study also showed the importance of availability of a wide variety of healthy and safe foods in food choice. This nding is similar with previous studies in Addis Ababa (39) and among pastoralists in Ethiopia (40). In New Zealand, some consumers prefer locally available foods and are unwilling to purchase non-locally produced food at any price (51).…”

Drivers of Food Choice Among College Students in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: A Structural Equation Model

“…A study conducted in Ethiopia's Somali Region revealed that residents have monotonous feeding habits and poor food choices, with food choice drivers such as crop failure, income, price, quality and availability of foods, market access, familiarity with new foods, knowledge of nutritious foods, and individuals' health status being mentioned. 23 Similarly, the recent study found that price and familiarity were remained the most important motivators. The previous research, however, did not report on mood or health concerns.…”

Geospatial Overlap of Undernutrition and Tuberculosis in Ethiopia

“…A previous study also demonstrated inadequate access to safe drinking water in these regions [48], which may in turn increase the burden of intestinal parasites, diarrhoeal diseases, and undernutrition. The highest inequality in access to minimum nutrition was found in the Somali and Afar regions, primarily because a majority of their food items are imported from other areas [49]. Inaccessibility of transportation further jeopardises the availability of imported nutritious foods.…”