18. Contribution of agro-biodiversity to dietary diversity and nutritional status of women of reproductive age in Rongai Sub-County, Kenya

Abstract

The causes of malnutrition among women of reproductive age are complex but it is mainly attributed to diets lacking diversity. Agro-biodiversity is widely perceived as a promising strategy to improve dietary diversity and ultimately nutritional status. The main objective of this study was to assess the relationship between agro-biodiversity, dietary diversity and nutritional status of women aged 15-49 years in two different agro-ecological zones (low and high agricultural potential areas) of Rongai Sub-County, Nakuru County, Kenya. A cross sectional research design was adopted for the study. A multi-stage cluster sampling was used to select 384 participants. Agro-biodiversity was measured using Shannon-Wiener index, species count/richness, and production diversity score. Data from the qualitative 24-hour dietary recall was used to determine minimum dietary diversity (MDD) for women of reproductive age. Weight and height were taken and used to compute body mass index of the women. All data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 20.0, 2011. Diversity of crops was significantly (P<0.05) higher in high (Shannon-Wiener index, 1.08 ± 0.41) than low potential area (0.93 ± 0.40), while diversity of legumes and nuts as well as domesticated animals was higher (P<0.05) in low (1.05 ± 0.26 and 2.29 ± 1.01) compared to high potential area (1.00 ± 0.00 and 1.93 ± 0.91). The average production diversity score was 5 food groups per farm household. Overall, women dietary diversity score was low (3.78 ± 0.99) with no significant difference (P>0.05) between low (3.78 ± 0.99) and high potential area (3.84 ± 1.05). A larger proportion (P<0.05) of women from high (19.1%) compared to low (13.9%) potential area met the MDD. Overall, 11.8% of the women were underweight; with a significant higher proportion (P<0.05) in low (18.5%) compared to high potential area (7.1%). In contrast, majority of overweight and obese women were from high (21.9% and 11.6%) compared to low (17.2% and 5.1%) potential area, respectively. There was no relationship (P>0.05) between agro-biodiversity indicators and dietary diversity. In low agricultural potential area, woman's education level positively influenced dietary diversity while in high agriculture potential area, household gender, woman's education level, woman's age and household size influenced dietary diversity. Women’s dietary diversity positively associated with nutritional status in high potential area (χ2= 10.423, P<0.05). In conclusion, the study demonstrated that the availability of food from the farm does not always translate to better dietary diversity. Therefore, there is a need for nutrition education and behaviour change communication to ensure that agro-biodiversity is optimally utilized to positively impact women dietary diversity and ultimately their nutritional status.