Assessing the relative importance of dairy products to family nutrition in mixed crop-livestock production systems of Ethiopia

• Published in: Food security 2015-10, Vol.7 (5), p.1003-1015
• Main Authors: Yigrem, Sintayehu, Markemann, André, Abebe, Girma, Ogutu, Joseph O., Piepho, Hans-Peter, Zárate, Anne Valle
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agriculture; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Environment; Food Science; Life Sciences; Original Paper; Plant Sciences; Social Policy; Social Sciences
• ISSN: 1876-4517; 1876-4525
• DOI: 10.1007/s12571-015-0487-0

Livestock forms an integral part and contributes in multiple ways to the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the crop-livestock systems of Ethiopia. This study presents empirical evidence of the relative importance of the consumption of dairy products to family nutrition and factors underlying differences among farm households. Cattle owning households ( n  = 270) and their under-5-year-old children ( n  = 225) were sampled for this study. Multiple approaches were applied for data collection, including a cross-sectional survey, in-depth household monitoring, a dietary diversity survey and anthropometric measurements of children. Household dietary diversity scores were low (4.6 ± 1.3), mainly comprising maize, Enset , green kales and milk products. The consumption of non-dairy Animal Source Foods (ASF: beef, mutton, chicken meat, eggs and fish) was low, intermittent and peaked during major religious or social festivities. Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) revealed substantial associations between anthropometric indices of children and socio-economic status of their parents. Specifically, predictors assigned the greatest weights, in descending order, were per capita farmland size, family size, access to clean water, crop diversity, dependency ratio, livestock holding, cash income, literacy of household head, distance to public health centres, and volume of milk available in the households. Although cow milk was identified as an important food item for children, their nutritional status was influenced by manifold factors that affect their dietary quality, health and care. Therefore, holistic approaches that embrace effective coordination among different economic sectors - notably agriculture, public health education and provision of clean water are required to achieve food and nutritional security among farming households.