Nutritional benefits of grain legume
cultivation within the N2Africa project in
Northern Ghana
Ilse de Jager
N2Africa project
Agricultural productivity by BNF
• Ghana, Nigeria, DRC, Malawi, Kenya,
Mozambique, Rwanda, Zimbabwe
New: Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia
• Groundnut, soybean, cowpea, climbing bean,
pigeon pea, common bean
• Demonstration plots for smallholder farmers
(field day, farmer groups)
• Literature study and case studies
Objectives
• Assessing impact (quantitative):
– Nutrient adequacy of the diet
– Nutritional status
By quasi-experimental, cross-sectional study
• Assessing pathways (qualitative):
– Via food availability
– Via income
By focus group discussions
Methodology –study area
• Ghana
– 238.537 km2, lowland country, on average 26 ºC
– 28 % of children < 5 are stunted, 9 % are wasted
• Districts
– Rainfall
– Market
accessibility
Methodology -subjects
• Selection of N2Africa villages and farmers
– Villages in N2Africa project from 2010
– Farmers who received inputs in 2012
• Selection of non-N2Africa villages and household
– Villages supervised by
same extension officer
– Random walk method
Methodology -subjects
• Households were included when present:
– (N2Africa) farmer
– Child of 6 – 59 month old (if >1, randomly selected)
– Mother of child (if >1 wife, randomly selected)
N2Africa group: N = 129
Non-N2Africa gourp: N = 202
Methodology - IDDS
• Individual Dietary Diversity Score (IDDS)
– Proxy measure of nutrient adequacy
– 24 hour recalls
– 14 Food groups
Food group
Cereals (1)
Vitamin A rich vegetables and tubers (>60 RAE) (2)
White roots and tubers (3)
Dark green leafy vegetables (>60 RAE) (4)
Other vegetables (5)
Vitamin A rich fruits (>60 RAE) (6)
Other fruits (7)
Organ meat (8)
Flesh meat (9)
Eggs (10)
Fish (11)
Legumes, nuts and seeds (12)
Milk and milk products (13)
Oil and fats (14)
Yes/No
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Methodology - IDDS
• Role play
•
•
•
•
•
•
Open questions
Not suggestive
ALL ingredients (mixed meals -> ask!)
Probe for snacks, fruits and fluids
Bought items (check ingredients on market)
Analysing: food composition table for
categorisation into food groups (vitamin A rich
vegetables and fruits)
Methodology - anthropometry
• Measuring nutritional status
Height
Weight
-Children <2: recumbent length
-remove shoes, jackets
-Children >2: standing height
-child <2: with mother
-Analysis: 0.7 cm (length child>2) -child >2: stand still
Methodology -measurements
• Analysing nutritional status
– Use WHO reference population 2006
– SPSS syntax (anthro+), epi info (low key, free)
Stunted
<-2 Z-scores height-for-age
Severe stunted
<-3 Z-scores height-for-age
Wasted
<-2 Z-scores weight-for-height
Severe wasted
<-3 Z-scores weight-for-height
Underweight
<-2 Z-scores weight-for-age
Severe Underweight
<-3 Z-scores weight-for-age
Results
Individual dietary diversity
N2Africa subjects and non-N2Africa subjects
N2Africa
Non-N2Africa
Unit
N = 129
N = 202
Mean (SD)
5.5 (1.9)
5.1 (1.8)*
children <2 years
Mean (SD)
4.2
4.1
children 2 – 5 years
Mean (SD)
6.1 (1.2)
5.6 (1.3)*
% (N)
62.5 (25)
56.0 (14)
Outcome
IDDS, out of 14 food groups
Minimum dietary diversity
(7 groups, IDDS>=4, child< 2)
*P<0.05 (Mann-Whitney U test);
• Children > 2 years of N2Africa participants have a more
nutrient adequate diet
• Children < 2 years do not differ
Results
Consumption of food groups
• N2Africa subjects consumed more:
‘White roots and tubers’, ‘Other fruits’, ‘Legumes, nuts & seeds’ and ‘Oils & fats’
Results
Nutritional status indicators
N2Africa subjects and non-N2Africa subjects
Overall
Children <2 years
Non-N2Africa
N2Africa
Non-N2Africa
N2Africa
villages
villages
villages
villages
(n=202)
(n=129)
(n=76)
(n=40)
% (N)
% (N)
% (N)
% (N)
Stunting (length/height-for-age)
29.2 (59)
35.7 (46)
25.0 (19)
27.5 (11)
Wasting (weight-for-age)
10.9 (22)
6.2 (8)
23.7 (18)
17.5 (7)
Underweight (weight-for-height)
23.3 (47)
24.0 (31)
31.6 (24)
27.5 (11)
Characteristic
• Long-term effect
• Other causes of malnutrition
Conclusions
• Legume intake higher in N2Africa subjects
• N2Africa seems to increase the nutrient adequacy of
the diet of children > 2 years, but not < 2 years
• No impact on nutritional status
• Involving nutrition from the beginning...
-Target households with children under 5, adolescent girls
- Varieties of legumes high in iron, low in phytate(measure)
- Collaborate with other projects (health, WASH)
- Nutritional value addition within value chain
Questions?
n2africa.tv/video/77717212