Household cereal crop harvest and children's nutritional status in rural Burkina Faso

Kristine Belesova, Antonio Gasparrini, Ali Sié, Rainer Sauerborn, Paul Wilkinson, Kristine Belesova, Antonio Gasparrini, Ali Sié, Rainer Sauerborn, Paul Wilkinson

Abstract

Background: Reduction of child undernutrition is one of the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. Achievement of this goal may be made more difficult in some settings by climate change through adverse impact on agricultural productivity. However, there is only limited quantitative evidence on the link between household crop harvests and child nutrition. We examined this link in a largely subsistence farming population in rural Burkina Faso.

Methods: Data on the middle-upper arm circumference (MUAC) of 975 children ≤5 years of age, household crop yields, and other parameters were obtained from the Nouna Health and Demographic Surveillance System. Multilevel modelling was used to assess the relationship between MUAC and the household crop harvest in the year 2009 estimated in terms of kilocalories per adult equivalent per day (kcal/ae/d).

Results: Fourteen percent of children had a MUAC <125 mm (a value indicative of acute undernutrition). The relationship between MUAC and annual household food energy production adjusted for age, sex, month of MUAC measurement, household wealth, whether a household member had a non-agricultural occupation, garden produce, village infrastructure and market presence, suggested a decline in MUAC below around 3000 kcal/ae/d. The mean MUAC was 2.49 (95% CI 0.45, 4.52) mm less at 1000 than at 3000 kcal/ae/d.

Conclusions: Low per capita household crop production is associated with poorer nutritional status of children in a rural farming population in Burkina Faso. This and similar populations may thus be vulnerable to the adverse effects of weather on agricultural harvest, especially in the context of climate change.

Keywords: Agriculture; Children’s health; Climate change; Crops; Environmental epidemiology; Food security; MUAC; Malnutrition; Undernutrition.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Map of Nouna HDSS villages
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The amount and variability of crop harvest across households in the year 2009. Abbreviations: kg/ae/d, kilograms per adult equivalent per day. Note 1: Results are presented on a logarithmic (to the base of 10) scale. Note 2: Households with 0 production of the crop were excluded from data presented in this figure (but included in analysis) to demonstrate harvest variability among households that managed to produce the crop
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Restricted natural cubic spline and piecewise linear models of the associations of children’s MUAC with food energy production. On the left: food energy estimates are based on food crop harvest alone. On the right: food energy estimates are based on food and cash crop harvest combined. Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; kcal/ae/d, kilocalories per adult equivalent per day; MUAC, middle-upper arm circumference; HDSS, Health and Demographic Surveillance System. Note 1: For purposes of clarity in the visual presentation, we excluded from the models the sparse observations at the highest exposure values: 40 observations excluded within 8000–16,052 kcal/ae/day interval of the energy production from food crop harvest and 14 observations were excluded within 15,000–34,064 kcal/ae/day interval of the energy production from both food and cash crops combined. Note 2: Both models were adjusted for age, sex, month of MUAC measurement, household wealth, non-agricultural occupation, garden produce, village infrastructure, and market presence

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Source: PubMed

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