J.C. Hoorweg

When Households Run Out of Fuel: Responses of Rural Households to Decreasing Fuelwood Availability, Ntcheu District, Malawi

Summary. - This paper examines strategies used by rural households in Central Malawi to cope with a decreasing fuelwood availability. With increasing distance to woodlands, households initially collected further away, spending more time on collection. But when distance to woodlands increased, households returned to nearby places using less time for collection and switching to lower quality wood. Results indicate that distance to collection place and collection time are not reliable indicators of fuelwood shortages as so often postulated in the literature. Households within the same village differed in collection strategies particularly as regards collection distance and collection frequency. Households that tended to collect further away and more frequently were large in size with more female adults. These households also collected more wood, even per capita, compared to smaller households, suggesting that smaller households economized on fuelwood use. This paper supports the idea that level of fuelwood used is not only determined by fuelwood availability, but the more by labor availability. 0 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

NUTRITION IN AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT: The Case of Irrigated Rice Cultivation in West Kenya

This study on the nutritional aspects of agricultural and rural development, examines the case of irrigated rice cultivation in Western Kenya. Large‐scale irrigation schemes were established in the region two decades ago; in the past few years, paddy production by independent smallholders has been expanding rapidly. Nutrition surveys were conducted among four groups of farmers differing in degree of participation in and dependence on irrigated rice production. These include: non‐rice growers, resident tenants at large‐scale irrigation schemes, non‐resident tenants at the large schemes who also farm sizeable plots of land elsewhere, and individual rice growers who have a similar combination of resources as the third group but who usually cultivate only small rice plots. The observed differences in nutrition between the four groups appeared to be primarily related to diversity in available resources. The group with the most narrow resource base namely the resident tenants had the lowest food production for ...

THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF PROTEIN ENERGY MALNUTRITION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD ON BONE AGE, BONE CORTICAL THICKNESS AND HEIGHT

ABSTRACT: Briers, P. J., Hoorweg, J. C. and Stanfield, J. P. (Royal Infirmary, Gloucester, Great Britain; Africa Study Centre, Netherlands; Social Paediatric and Obstetric Research Unit, Glasgow, Scotland). The long‐term effects of protein energy malnutrition in early childhood on bone age, bone cortical thickness and height. Acta Paediatr Scand, 64: 853, 1975.–Three groups of Ugandan children, 18 in each group, and one comparison group of 18 children were examined at 11–17 years of age. The three groups had previously been admitted for treatment of protein energy malnutrition between the ages of 8 to 15, 16 to 21 and 22 to 27 months respectively. The comparison group had not been clinically malnourished throughout the period up to 27 months of age. The children came from one tribe and from similar socio‐economic background, and were individually matched on age and sex. The bone age was estimated by hand wrist radiography scored for maturity by the Tanner & Whitehouse method. The metacarpal index, a ratio derived from the medullary width and full diameter of the mid‐point of the second metacarpal, was used as a measure of bone cortical thickness. The three malnourished groups are significantly shorter in height than the comparison group, but are not different in bone age and metacarpal index. No differences are observed between the three groups of children who had been admitted for protein energy malnutrition at different ages. The findings are discussed as they relate to the existing literature.

Nutrition in agricultural development: Intensive dairy farming by rural smallholders

This study concerns the introduction of intensive dairy farming among rural smallholders in Kilifi District, Kenya. Household surveys were conducted among dairy farmers, dairy customers and a comparison sample from rural locations. Dairy farmers were better off than the rural sample as regards household income, food production, food consumption and nutritional status of young children. These differences resulted from the dairy activities but also from greater involvement in crop cultivation and off‐farm employment. Local milk purchases by dairy customers were mostly by wealthier households with wage employment. They had higher incomes and higher food consumption than the rural sample, and the children in these households had better nutritional status. Further analysis confirms a positive relation between milk consumption and nutritional status of children, independent of household income, energy intake and level of education. Other notable findings were the high incomes from off‐farm employment of dairy farmers; regular dairy customers are chiefly households with wage employment; milk consumption among the rural population was very low. The results cast doubt on the importance of intensive dairy production as a means of livelihood for resource‐poor households and the importance of milk as a means to improve nutritional status of children in low‐income households.

Fish traders in artisanal fisheries on the Kenyan coast

Purpose - Marine fisheries are one of the few economic activities present everywhere along the Kenyan coastline. The local population is involved mainly in artisanal fishing which uses small non-motorized fishing crafts that stay close to shore. Some of the catch is destined for local consumption but most is for sale. The purpose of this paper is to question whether fish traders in artisanal fisheries along the Kenyan coast earn enough money from only fish trading to support a household. Design/methodology/approach - Fish traders were surveyed at two landing sites at each of five coastal tracts. Structured questionnaires, informal interviews and participatory observations were used in collecting data. Findings - Average income for the fish traders from only fish trading was Ksh 1,268 per week; only 20.3 percent of the households was at or above the poverty line. However, there was a large difference between male and female traders in earning. Men earned Ksh 1,693 per week and women Ksh 795 per week. The poverty line for households was reached by 30.8 percent of the male traders but only by 8.8 percent of the female traders. Originality/value - Livelihood diversification could greatly help improve the income. It was estimated that when earnings other than from fish trading (from the traders or someone else in the household) were added to that of fish trading, 27.4 percent of the households was at or above the poverty line. For men traders, it was 54 percent of the households but for women it was only 15 percent.

Household fuel use and food consumption: Relationship and seasonal effects in central Malawi

The present study analysed the relationship between household fuel use on one hand and food preparation and consumption on the other. Data were collected in the rainy season, a period of relatively low food availability, and in the post‐harvest season, a period of sufficient food availability. In both seasons, a high fuel use was associated with a high energy intake. In the rainy season, this association was determined chiefly by food availability whereas in the post‐harvest season fuelwood availability was a determinant of food intake as the correlations became stronger with decreasing fuelwood availability. In both seasons, households with a high fuel use showed a high energy intake from cooked foods made of cereals. Only in the post‐harvest season was a high fuel use also related to a high energy intake from other food groups, especially beans. In the rainy season, vegetable intake was increased with an increase in fuel use, but this did not affect energy intake due to the low calorie content of vegeta...

The Significance of Socio-Economic Characteristics for Adult Seasonal Body-Weight Fluctuations: A Study in North-Western Benin

Large variations in seasonal body-weight fluctuations have been described for individuals from different households living and working under comparable circumstances. In the present study the relationship between socio-economic household characteristics and seasonal body-weight fluctuations of individual members of rural Beninese households were studied. No significant correlation was found for body-weight fluctuation between the two study years, nor for body-weight fluctuation of men and women belonging to the same household. When comparing dichotomized socio-economic classes for relative body-weight fluctuation of men and women in both study years, no consistent trends were observed for both years nor for both sexes. The distribution of subjects with a consistent high weight fluctuation over the two study years did not differ between socio-economic groups. In conclusion it may be stated that there were no indications that socio-economic characteristics play a determining role in the magnitude of body-weight fluctuation of this study population, despite the large variations observed in the latter. Therefore it is most likely that other factors decide the weight fluctuations of individuals, health and sanitation being the most likely candidates.

Preliminary studies on some aspects of Kikuyu food habits.

The preliminary studies presented in this paper were conducted prior to a comprehensive evaluation of child nutrition programmes among the Kikuyu in Kenya. They cover general aspects of Kikuyu food habits such as the foods presently in use, the classification of foods and food preferences for children. The emphasis is on the methods employed in these studies which can also be used elsewhere to obtain information vital to the evaluation and planning of child nutrition programmes. A discussion on foods used by the Kikuyu in the rural areas is accompanied by a list of food names in the vernacular. Certain changes that have occurred over the last decennia are briefly touched upon. A quick method of studying food classification is described. There are no indications that the Kikuyu food classification differs substantially from the nutritional assignation generally used. The remainder of the paper concentrates on the measurement of maternal food preferences. It is shown that the method of paired comparisons gi...

Social environment and outpatient recovery from malnutrition

It is generally recommended that the evaluation of child nutrition programs in tropical countries should be carried out routinely by the staff. Data collected in this way at a Nutrition Rehabilitation Unit in Uganda attempts to relate the recovery of outpatients to social factors in their home environment. Because of the complexity of these influences and the limitations of the data this attempt is only partially successful. The future collection of such data should be more specific and planned more carefully. To this end a hypothetical model is presented outlining the complex interrelations between social variables and their influence on recovery.

Nutrition in Agricultural Development : Land settlement in Coast Province, Kenya

Coast Province is the third area of population concentration in Kenya with more than 1.8 million people at the time of the census in 1989. The region is economically underdeveloped relative to central and western Kenya. In response to a great demand for land, the government of Kenya has since 1963 parcelled out tracts of land in Coast Province among smallholder tenants. This paper reviews the settlement of land in the province during 1960-70 and the effects upon later household income, food production, and nutrition. Findings are based upon information gathered from 300 tenant households surveyed between August 1985 and September 1986 in the Ukunda, Mtwapa, and Roka-East schemes respectively established in 1962, 1968, and 1969, and 150 households in rural comparison locations visited during the same period. In all aspects studied, including living conditions, household resources and income, food self-sufficiency and consumption, and nutritional status of children, the settlement tenants were better off than the rural population. Further analysis determined that the relatively better nutritional status of tenant households is only partly due to increases in food production and agricultural income. Income from employment was also higher than that of the rural comparison population. Households with large farms generally realized larger incomes, but they also had much larger families and food consumption, and the nutritional status of young children was lower among those households.