Effect of seasons on household food insecurity in Bangladesh

The contribution of homestead pond fish culture to household food security and dietary diversity in central coast of a developing country

Fish farming in homestead ponds help alleviate poverty, provide animal source food, micronutrients, and indirect income and various jobs in developing nations. This study investigated the impact of homestead pond fish farming on dietary diversity (HDDS and MDD-W), food security (HFIAS and ELCSA), income, and women's engagement. A total of 185 households were selected randomly for data collection through well-structured questionnaire interviews in the central coast of Bangladesh. HDDS revealed significant dietary diversity (73.3%) among beneficiary farmers, surpassing controls and nearly doubling that of non-aquaculture farmers (41.1%). Additionally, this study found that 86.7% and 74.3% of women in beneficiary and homestead pond farmers exhibited high dietary diversity (MDD-W ≥ 5), whereas 48.6% of women in non-aquaculture farmers' households had low dietary diversity (MDD-W ≥ 5). Based on both ELCSA and HFIAS, higher prevalence of food security was observed among the beneficiary farmers that was about 60% and 63.3%, respectively compared with the control farmers. Most non-aquaculture farmers (62.9%) indicated their family consumed fish for one week before the research. More than half of the homestead pond culture (55.7%) and more than 90% of the beneficiary farmers, aquaculture farmers and non-aquaculture farmers had gross income (<$ 500). Pertaining to women's participation in homestead pond was positively correlated to productivity while male dominated tasks was negatively correlated with productivity. The results offer insights into how homestead pond fish farming can enhance food security by supplying direct animal protein, addressing protein and micronutrient deficiencies, and boosting income. The study emphasizes the urgent necessity for training and promoting homestead pond culture, increasing female participation, and advocating comprehensive support from governmental organizations (GOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to optimize production, improve micronutrient adequacy, and guarantee household food security. Keywords: Fish farming, food security, dietary diversity, women's participation.

Climate shocks' impact on agricultural income and household food security in Bangladesh: An implication of the food insecurity experience scale

Floods and extreme rainfall are common climatic phenomena in Bangladesh, and farm households are more susceptible to such shocks. This paper assesses the impact of climate shocks on agricultural income and food security of farm households in Bangladesh using an extensive nationally representative dataset from the Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey 2018-19, including 5604 sample rural households in 64 districts. However, this research considered 24 districts, representing 2131 sample farm households, by developing an exogenous climate shock indicator based on data from the Yearbook of Agricultural Statistics of Bangladesh 2018. Empirical findings on the grounds of simultaneous quantile regression reveal that climate shocks substantially lower agricultural income in the study regions. However, the presence of prime-age women (15-49) in the home, the male-headed family, farmland, and livestock ownership of the household are the decisive factors that safeguard agricultural income. Applying the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), descriptive statistics disclose that most farm households suffer at various food insecurity levels (considerably moderate, noticeably mild, and tiny severe), while the rest are at the food security level. The key finding regarding ordered probit regression uncovers that climate shocks significantly increase household food insecurity (at different levels of FIES). In other words, cropland damage due to floods and extreme rainfall reduces the food security of farm households in the study districts. On the other hand, increased farm size and educated households are profoundly protected against food insecurity. This study, therefore, recommends that raising livestock can complement agricultural income, and enhancing education would ensure households' food security in the climate-exposed areas of Bangladesh.

Household food security and dietary diversity in south-eastern Nigeria

The aim of this study was to investigate household food security (access) level and the dietary diversity of households in the Nsukka Local Government Area in South-eastern Nigeria. From 20 local communities of Nsukka, 390 women were randomly sampled from the women's group and asked to complete a survey that determined the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale scores and the Household Dietary Diversity Scores (HDDS). The descriptive results indicated a high level of food insecurity with 82.6% households reporting various degrees of food insecurity. Over half of the sampled population experienced insufficient food quality. They either ate unwanted food (65.9%), limited variety (63.1%), or unpreferred food (64.6%). Some households experienced insufficient food intake by going a whole day without food (38.2%), go to sleep hungry (45.1%), or have no food of any kind (49%). The analysis of variance showed no significant difference (p = 0.428) in the food security level of households headed by males as compared with those headed by females. Approximately 53.6% of households fell at or below the average HDDS; males headed 48% of these households, while females headed 64%. The chi-square test indicated factors associated with household food security including age, education, work status and income, whereas the gender of the household head, household size and marital status were not significantly associated. Public-private partnerships, nutrition orientation and food intervention programs could improve food security in this area.

Seasonal variation in the association between household food insecurity and child undernutrition in Bangladesh: Mediating role of child dietary diversity

Household food insecurity (HFI) and child dietary diversity (CDD) are variable across seasons. We examined seasonal variation in HFI and child undernutrition association and tested how CDD mediates this association. We analyzed data for 26,353 children aged 6-59 months drawn from nationally representative cross-sectional Food Security and Nutrition Surveillance Project data collected during 2012-2014 in Bangladesh across three seasons annually: Post-Aman harvest (January-April); Monsoon (May-August); and Post-Aus harvest (September-December). Multivariable logistic regression analysis adjusted for individual, maternal, household and geographical characteristics reveals that children of food-insecure households were more likely than food-secure households to be stunted (adjusted odds ratio, AOR: 1.12; 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.02-1.23; p < 0.05), wasted (AOR: 1.21; 95% CI: 1.05-1.39; p < 0.01) and underweight (AOR: 1.16; 95% CI: 1.04-1.3; p < 0.01). CDD mediated 6.1% of the total effect of HFI on underweight. These findings varied across seasons. HFI was associated with greater odds of underweight during Monsoon (AOR: 1.32; 95% CI: 1.08-1.62; p < 0.01) and Post-Aus (AOR: 1.21; 95% CI: 1.06-1.37; p < 0.01) while wasting during Post-Aus (AOR: 1.65; 95% CI: 1.35-2.01; p < 0.001). CDD largely mediated the total effect of HFI on underweight during the Post-Aman in 2012-2014 (23.2%). CDD largely mediated the total effect of HFI on wasting (39.7%) during Post-Aman season in 2014 and on underweight (13.7%) during the same season in 2012. These findings demonstrate that HFI is seasonally associated with child undernutrition and mediated by CDD as well in Bangladesh and seasonality and diversity should be considered while designing appropriate population-level food-based interventions to resolve child undernutrition.

Factors associated with low and medium household dietary diversity compared with high dietary diversity among marginalised households in rural Bangladesh: Findings from a Suchana baseline survey

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to identify the associated factors of low and medium household (HH) dietary diversity (DD) compared with high DD among marginalised households in rural Bangladesh.

METHODS

Through the Suchana baseline survey, data on 5440 households from Sylhet and Moulvibazar districts of Bangladesh was collected between November 2016 and February 2017. Household DD was categorised as low, medium or high based on number of food groups consumed during the last 24 hours. Primary outcome measure was household DD; multinomial logistic regression was to determine independent correlations between outcome and independent variables.

RESULTS

Of the households examined, 0.72%, 31.8% and 67.5% had low, medium and high DD, respectively. Around 99% and 97% of households consumed cereals and vegetables. Cereals, fruits and legumes accounted for 36%, 18% and 16% of total food expenditure; vegetables only represented 8% of total expenditure; 70% of total monthly expenditure was on food items. Compared with high DD, low DD was significantly associated with severe food insecurity, not receiving remittance, not being supported by social safety-net programs, household size of 6-10, household income and expenditure on food below-median. Severe food insecurity was the strongest predictor of low DD. Age, occupation and educational status of the household head, amount of land owned and presence of a homestead garden, fish production and domestic violence were not significantly associated with DD.

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest that nine out of ten households were food insecure, and nearly two-thirds of households had high DD. Severe food insecurity was significantly associated with low DD. Expenditure on food items amounted to nearly two-thirds of total household expenditure. Diversification of income-generating activities would provide more sources of income to the households, allowing the households to spend more on non-cereal food items and increase the household dietary diversity.

Childhood socioeconomic status and adulthood dietary diversity among Indonesian adults

Food insecurity problems still exist among people in low-to-middle income countries. The long-term disadvantages of socioeconomic status may contribute to chronic food insecurity. However, whether childhood socioeconomic status factors are related to food insecurity in adulthood remains unclear. Thus, the aim of this study was to test the association between childhood socioeconomic status factors and one of the proxies for adulthood food security, dietary diversity. This study used the 2014 RAND Indonesia Family Life Survey dataset with 22,559 adult participants as study samples. The childhood socioeconomic status factors consisted of 16 questions about the participants’ conditions when they were 12 years old. Adult dietary diversity was assessed using the United Nations World Food Programme’s food consumption score. A linear regression model was used to analyze the association between variables. This study found that the number of owned books (β coef.: 3.713–7.846, p < 0.001), the use of safe drinking-water sources (β coef.: 0.707–5.447, p < 0.001–0.009) and standard toilets (β coef.: 1.263–4.955, p < 0.001–0.002), parents with the habit of alcohol consumption (β coef.: 2.983, p = 0.044) or the combination with smoking habits (β coef.: 1.878, p < 0.001), self-employed with the permanent worker (β coef.: 2.904, p = 0.001), still married biological parents (β coef.: 1.379, p < 0.001), the number of rooms (β coef.: 0.968, p < 0.001), people (β coef.: 0.231, p < 0.001), and younger siblings (β coef.: 0.209–0.368, p < 0.001–0.039) in the same house were positively and significantly associated with the outcome variable. Furthermore, in the order of childhood socioeconomic status factors, self-employment without permanent workers and casual work types (β coef.: –9.661 to –2.094, p < 0.001–0.001), houses with electricity facilities (β coef.: –4.007, p < 0.001), and parents with smoking habits (β coef.: –0.578, p = 0.006) were negatively and significantly associated with the food security proxy. In conclusion, childhood and early socioeconomic disadvantage is related to adult food security status and may lead to poor health.

Spatial Differences in Diet Quality and Economic Vulnerability to Food Insecurity in Bangladesh: Results from the 2016 Household Income and Expenditure Survey

The study explored the spatial differences in diet quality and economic vulnerability to food insecurity with the association of sociodemographic characteristics at the household level in Bangladesh. This study was a secondary data analysis of Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) data of 2016. Both statistical and spatial analyses were applied while assessing diet qualities in terms of the household dietary diversity score (HDDS), percentage of food energy from staples (PFES), and percentage of expenditure on food (PEF) as an indicator of the economic vulnerability to food insecurity (EVFI). The study’s findings revealed that the quality of people’s diets worsened as they moved from urban to rural area, and EVFI increased as they moved from the center to the periphery of the country. Nationally, the average HDDS was about 6.3, and the average PFES per household per day was about 70.4%. The spatial distribution of HDDS and PFES showed that rural regions in terms of settlements and the north, northwest and southeast regions had mostly low diet diversity. Besides, the average PEF per household per day was about 54%, with the highest in Mymensingh (57.4%) and the lowest in Dhaka division (50.2%). The average PEF in the households illustrated was highest in rural (55.2%) and lowest in the city (45.7%). Overall, based on the PEF at the sub-district level, the medium level of vulnerability comprised the highest share (69%) in Bangladesh. Age, gender, literacy, educational qualification and religion of the household’s head along with the number of earners, monthly income, area of settlements and divisions were significantly correlated with HDDS, PFES and EVFI. The study findings suggest that targeted interventions, including access to education, women empowerment and employment generation programs should be implemented in peripheral areas (north, northwest and southeast) to increase diet quality and minimize economic vulnerability to achieve sustainable food and nutrition security in Bangladesh.

Household food insecurity and dietary diversity of women of reproductive age among smallholder farming households in northwest Bangladesh

Despite Bangladesh's remarkable progress in agricultural production over the past few decades, household food and nutrition insecurity persist, especially in rural areas. The nutrition security and dietary diversity are even more critical for women of reproductive age among smallholders. This study examined household food insecurity and dietary diversity of women of reproductive age in the rural areas of northwest Bangladesh. Using cross-sectional data collected from 252 smallholder households, we measured household food insecurity and dietary diversity of women of reproductive age by the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale and the Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women, respectively. Determinants of household food insecurity were examined, and associations between household food insecurity and low dietary diversity were determined. The majority of the households were mildly insecure (51.2%) followed by moderately insecure (27.4%). The households felt anxiety of food insecurity for more than six months a year (Food Security Index = 2.10 out of 4.00). The mean food group consumed by women was 4.63 indicating low dietary diversity and dominance of diets by grains and dark green leafy vegetables. The findings also indicate a significant and positive association between household food insecurity and low dietary diversity of women. Education of household heads, household size, access to information sources, access to credit support, and perceived impacts of climate change on crop production were identified as determinants of household food insecurity. The study recommends that appropriate interventions be formulated to improve the food and nutrition security in the study areas.

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on caregiver mental health and the child caregiving environment in a low-resource, rural context

Early child development has been influenced directly and indirectly by the COVID‐19 pandemic, and these effects are exacerbated in contexts of poverty. This study estimates effects of the pandemic and subsequent population lockdowns on mental health, caregiving practices, and freedom of movement among female caregivers of children 6–27 months (50% female), in rural Bangladesh. A cohort (N = 517) was assessed before and during the pandemic (May–June, 2019 and July–September, 2020). Caregivers who experienced more food insecurity and financial loss during the pandemic reported larger increases in depressive symptoms (0.26 SD, 95% CI 0.08–0.44; 0.21 SD, 0.04–0.40) compared to less affected caregivers. Stimulating caregiving and freedom of movement results were inconsistent. Increases in depressive symptoms during the pandemic may have consequences for child development.

Acute food insecurity and short-term coping strategies of urban and rural households of Bangladesh during the lockdown period of COVID-19 pandemic of 2020: report of a cross-sectional survey

INTRODUCTION

We conducted a cross-sectional survey to assess the extent and to identify the determinants of food insecurity and coping strategies in urban and rural households of Bangladesh during the month-long, COVID-19 lockdown period.

SETTING

Selected urban and rural areas of Bangladesh.

PARTICIPANTS

106 urban and 106 rural households.

OUTCOME VARIABLES AND METHOD

Household food insecurity status and the types of coping strategies were the outcome variables for the analyses. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were done to identify the determinants.

RESULTS

We found that around 90% of the households were suffering from different grades of food insecurity. Severe food insecurity was higher in urban (42%) than rural (15%) households. The rural households with mild/moderate food insecurity adopted either financial (27%) or both financial and food compromised (32%) coping strategies, but 61% of urban mild/moderate food insecure households applied both forms of coping strategies. Similarly, nearly 90% of severely food insecure households implemented both types of coping strategies. Living in poorest households was significantly associated (p value <0.05) with mild/moderate (regression coefficient, β: 15.13, 95% CI 14.43 to 15.82), and severe food insecurity (β: 16.28, 95% CI 15.58 to 16.97). The statistically significant (p <0.05) determinants of both food compromised and financial coping strategies were living in urban areas (β: 1.8, 95% CI 0.44 to 3.09), living in poorest (β: 2.7, 95% CI 1 to 4.45), poorer (β: 2.6, 95% CI 0.75 to 4.4) and even in the richer (β: 1.6, 95% CI 0.2 to 2.9) households and age of the respondent (β: 0.1, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.21).

CONCLUSION

Both urban and rural households suffered from moderate to severe food insecurity during the month-long lockdown period in Bangladesh. But, poorest, poorer and even the richer households adopted different coping strategies that might result in long-term economic and nutritional consequences.

Effect of Maternal Exposure to Seasons during the Second and Third Trimesters of Pregnancy on Infant Birth Weight in Rural Bangladesh

BACKGROUND

Pregnant women belonging to agricultural communities of low- and middle-income countries often face seasonal food insecurity and energy stress.

OBJECTIVES

We aimed to investigate the effect of maternal exposure to different seasons during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy on infant birth weight in rural Bangladesh.

METHODS

Information on 3831 singleton live births was obtained from the electronic databases of Matlab Health and Demographic Surveillance System and Matlab hospital of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh. We collected information on all term births from July 2011 to June 2015 and excluded congenital anomalies and observations with missing data. Each year was divided into 3 distinct seasons: the post-aman harvest period (January-April), the height of the monsoon (May-August), and the post-aus harvest period (September-December). Seasonal exposure was measured in weeks, and multivariable linear regression models were fitted to determine the independent effect of each week of exposure of different seasons during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy on birth weight.

RESULTS

We observed peak birth weight in the post-aman harvest season, especially among infants born in March (mean ± SD: 2930.5 ± 462.1 g), and the lowest birth weight in the month of July (2830.6 ± 385.4 g) during the monsoon season. Regression analysis showed that exposure to the post-aman harvest season during the third trimester, and the post-aus harvest period during the second trimester of pregnancy had significant positive effects on birth weight. In the final adjusted model, each week of exposure to the post-aman harvest season during the third trimester was associated with a 6.3-g (95% CI: 1.6, 10.9 g; P = 0.008) increase in birth weight.

CONCLUSIONS

Infants born to women who were exposed to the post-aman harvest season for the entire third trimester (14 wk) were associated with 88.2-g higher weight at birth. Further investigations into the complex interplay between seasonal energy stress, maternal, and fetal nutrition and measures to alleviate it are warranted.