The influence of sugarcane growing by smallholder farmers on household livelihood, food security, and nutrition status of children below five years in mid-western Uganda
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Date
2023-11-23
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Agriculture and Food Research
Abstract
The current study aimed at determining the influence of sugarcane production on livelihoods, food security and
nutrition status. A cross-sectional study was carried out among 350 smallholder farmers in mid-western Uganda.
Food security was assessed by Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) while household livelihood and
nutrition status of children below five (5) years were assessed by a semi-structured questionnaire and anthropometry respectively. Results showed that sugarcane growing households (SCG) cultivated more acreage of food,
owned more assets, earned more income than the non-sugarcane growing households (NSCG). Ownership of
motorcycles was higher (p < 0.05) among SCG than NSCG. Households reported anxiety and uncertainty of
having food in the previous four weeks (SCG 38%; NSCG 55.2%); had insufficient food quality (SCG 56.8%;
NSCG 70.7%); and had insufficient food quantity (SCG 41.7%; NSCG 49.2%). SCG were more food secure
(32.3%) than the NSCG (20.8%) (p < 0.05) with a corresponding mean HFIAS of 6.56 ± 6.69 and 8.41 ± 6.41,
respectively. Stunting among children below five years among NSCG was higher (34.6%) than in SCG (21.3%).
Among SCG, 7.3% and 5.2% of children were underweight and wasted while 6.06% and 2.7% were underweight
and wasted from NSCG. This demonstrated that sugarcane growing had better livelihood outcomes, positively
impacted on asset ownership and food security but mixed effect on nutrition indicators among children in
sugarcane growing and non-sugarcane growing households. It is recommended that government and development agencies diversify livelihoods among the NSCG and reinforce the existing livelihoods among SCG; provide
nutrition education to both SCG and NSCG for improved food security and nutrition outcomes. Authors suggest
further studies using a mixed approach to assess the levels of household nutrient intake in sugarcane growing
areas.
Description
Agriculture and Food Research
Keywords
Livelihood, Food security, Nutrition security, Nutritional status, Bunyoro subregion (Uganda)
Citation
Mbabazi, K. R., Oyet, S. M., Muggaga, C., & Okello-Uma, I. (2023). The influence of sugarcane growing by smallholder farmers on household livelihood, food security, and nutrition status of children below five years in mid-western Uganda. Journal of Agriculture and Food Research, 100895.