IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/ssefpa/v12y2020i1d10.1007_s12571-019-00985-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A model-based exploration of farm-household livelihood and nutrition indicators to guide nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions

Author

Listed:
  • Natalia Estrada-Carmona

    (Wageningen University and Research
    Parc Scientifique Agropolis II)

  • Jessica E. Raneri

    (Parc Scientifique Agropolis II
    Ghent University)

  • Stephanie Alvarez

    (Wageningen University and Research)

  • Carl Timler

    (Wageningen University and Research)

  • Shantonu Abe Chatterjee

    (Wageningen University and Research)

  • Lenora Ditzler

    (Wageningen University and Research)

  • Gina Kennedy

    (Parc Scientifique Agropolis II)

  • Roseline Remans

    (Parc Scientifique Agropolis II)

  • Inge Brouwer

    (Wageningen University and Research)

  • Karin Borgonjen-van Berg

    (Wageningen University and Research)

  • Elise F. Talsma

    (Wageningen University and Research)

  • Jeroen C. J. Groot

    (Wageningen University and Research
    Bioversity International
    International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT))

Abstract

Assessing progress towards healthier people, farms and landscapes through nutrition-sensitive agriculture (NSA) requires transdisciplinary methods with robust models and metrics. Farm-household models could facilitate disentangling the complex agriculture-nutrition nexus, by jointly assessing performance indicators on different farm system components such as farm productivity, farm environmental performance, household nutrition, and livelihoods. We, therefore, applied a farm-household model, FarmDESIGN, expanded to more comprehensively capture household nutrition and production diversity, diet diversity, and nutrient adequacy metrics. We estimated the potential contribution of an NSA intervention targeting the diversification of home gardens, aimed at reducing nutritional gaps and improving livelihoods in rural Vietnam. We addressed three central questions: (1) Do ‘Selected Crops’ (i.e. crops identified in a participatory process) in the intervention contribute to satisfying household dietary requirements?; (2) Does the adoption of Selected Crops contribute to improving household livelihoods (i.e. does it increase leisure time for non-earning activities as well as the dispensable budget)?; and (3) Do the proposed nutrition-related metrics estimate the contribution of home-garden diversification towards satisfying household dietary requirements? Results indicate trade-offs between nutrition and dispensable budget, with limited farm-household configurations leading to jointly improved nutrition and livelihoods. FarmDESIGN facilitated testing the robustness and limitations of commonly used metrics to monitor progress towards NSA. Results indicate that most of the production diversity metrics performed poorly at predicting desirable nutritional outcomes in this modelling study. This study demonstrates that farm-household models can facilitate anticipating the effect (positive or negative) of agricultural interventions on nutrition and the environment, identifying complementary interventions for significant and positive results and helping to foresee the trade-offs that farm-households could face. Furthermore, FarmDESIGN could contribute to identifying agreed-upon and robust metrics for measuring nutritional outcomes at the farm-household level, to allow comparability between contexts and NSA interventions.

Suggested Citation

  • Natalia Estrada-Carmona & Jessica E. Raneri & Stephanie Alvarez & Carl Timler & Shantonu Abe Chatterjee & Lenora Ditzler & Gina Kennedy & Roseline Remans & Inge Brouwer & Karin Borgonjen-van Berg & El, 2020. "A model-based exploration of farm-household livelihood and nutrition indicators to guide nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 12(1), pages 59-81, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ssefpa:v:12:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1007_s12571-019-00985-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s12571-019-00985-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12571-019-00985-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12571-019-00985-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. van Ittersum, M. K. & Rabbinge, R. & van Latesteijn, H. C., 1998. "Exploratory land use studies and their role in strategic policy making," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 58(3), pages 309-330, November.
    2. Ditzler, Lenora & Komarek, Adam M. & Chiang, Tsai-Wei & Alvarez, Stéphanie & Chatterjee, Shantonu Abe & Timler, Carl & Raneri, Jessica E. & Carmona, Natalia Estrada & Kennedy, Gina & Groot, Jeroen C.J, 2019. "A model to examine farm household trade-offs and synergies with an application to smallholders in Vietnam," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 49-63.
    3. Groot, Jeroen C.J. & Oomen, Gerard J.M. & Rossing, Walter A.H., 2012. "Multi-objective optimization and design of farming systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 63-77.
    4. Sedami, Adjahossou Bai & Naesse, Adjahossou Videdji & Pascal, Gbenou & Firmin, Adjahossou Dossou, 2017. "Importance of Home Gardens in Rural Zone of the Municipality of Abomey-Calavi in South of Republic of Benin," Sustainable Agriculture Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 6(4), November.
    5. Melesse, Mequanint B. & Van den berg, Marrit & Béné, Christophe & Brouwer, Inge D & de Brauw, Alan, 2019. "Improving diets through food systems in low- and middle-income countries: Metrics for analysis:," IFPRI discussion papers 1858, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    6. Mohri, Hideyuki & Lahoti, Shruti & Saito, Osamu & Mahalingam, Anparasan & Gunatilleke, Nimal & Irham, & Hoang, Van Thang & Hitinayake, Gamini & Takeuchi, Kazuhiko & Herath, Srikantha, 2013. "Assessment of ecosystem services in homegarden systems in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 5(C), pages 124-136.
    7. Sibhatu, Kibrom T. & Qaim, Matin, 2018. "Review: Meta-analysis of the association between production diversity, diets, and nutrition in smallholder farm households," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 1-18.
    8. Ditzler, Lenora & Klerkx, Laurens & Chan-Dentoni, Jacqueline & Posthumus, Helena & Krupnik, Timothy J. & Ridaura, Santiago López & Andersson, Jens A. & Baudron, Frédéric & Groot, Jeroen C.J., 2018. "Affordances of agricultural systems analysis tools: A review and framework to enhance tool design and implementation," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 20-30.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Deolu-Ajayi, Ayodeji O. & Aranguiz, Adolfo Alvarez & Alho, Carlos Francisco Brazão Vieira & Siegmund-Schultze, Marianna & Ndambi, Asaah & Selassie, Yihenew G. & Abebe, Yenesew & Groot, Jeroen C.J. & H, 2023. "Integrated analysis of opportunities and trade-offs for mixed crop-livestock farm types in Amhara, Ethiopia," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    2. Junuthula, Shirisha & Kumari, Veenita & Srinivasan, Chittur, 2023. "Identification of Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture (NSA) Knowledge Gaps in the Integration of Nutrition into Training by Agricultural Extension Advisory Services (EAS) Providers in India," 97th Annual Conference, March 27-29, 2023, Warwick University, Coventry, UK 334565, Agricultural Economics Society - AES.
    3. Erin Lentz & Elizabeth Bageant & Sudha Narayanan, 2021. "Empowerment and nutrition in Niger: insights from the Women’s Empowerment in Nutrition grid," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(5), pages 1227-1244, October.
    4. Paul, B.K. & Epper, C.A. & Tschopp, D.J. & Long, C.T.M. & Tungani, V. & Burra, D. & Hok, L. & Phengsavanh, P. & Douxchamps, S., 2022. "Crop-livestock integration provides opportunities to mitigate environmental trade-offs in transitioning smallholder agricultural systems of the Greater Mekong Subregion," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    5. Brosseau, Antoine & Saito, Kazuki & van Oort, Pepijn A.J. & Diagne, Mandiaye & Valbuena, Diego & Groot, Jeroen C.J., 2021. "Exploring opportunities for diversification of smallholders' rice-based farming systems in the Senegal River Valley," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Timler, Carl & Alvarez, Stéphanie & DeClerck, Fabrice & Remans, Roseline & Raneri, Jessica & Estrada Carmona, Natalia & Mashingaidze, Nester & Abe Chatterjee, Shantonu & Chiang, Tsai Wei & Termote, Ce, 2020. "Exploring solution spaces for nutrition-sensitive agriculture in Kenya and Vietnam," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    2. Michalscheck, Mirja & Groot, Jeroen C.J. & Fischer, Gundula & Tittonell, Pablo, 2020. "Land use decisions: By whom and to whose benefit? A serious game to uncover dynamics in farm land allocation at household level in Northern Ghana," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    3. Bos, Jules F.F.P. & ten Berge, Hein F.M. & Verhagen, Jan & van Ittersum, Martin K., 2017. "Trade-offs in soil fertility management on arable farms," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 292-302.
    4. Paul, B.K. & Epper, C.A. & Tschopp, D.J. & Long, C.T.M. & Tungani, V. & Burra, D. & Hok, L. & Phengsavanh, P. & Douxchamps, S., 2022. "Crop-livestock integration provides opportunities to mitigate environmental trade-offs in transitioning smallholder agricultural systems of the Greater Mekong Subregion," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    5. Brosseau, Antoine & Saito, Kazuki & van Oort, Pepijn A.J. & Diagne, Mandiaye & Valbuena, Diego & Groot, Jeroen C.J., 2021. "Exploring opportunities for diversification of smallholders' rice-based farming systems in the Senegal River Valley," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    6. Tesfaye, Wondimagegn & Tirivayi, Nyasha, 2020. "Crop diversity, household welfare and consumption smoothing under risk: Evidence from rural Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    7. Orkhan Sariyev & Tim K. Loos & Manfred Zeller & Tulsi Gurung, 2020. "Women in household decision-making and implications for dietary quality in Bhutan," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 8(1), pages 1-20, December.
    8. Sukhwinder Singh & Andrew D. Jones & Ruth S. DeFries & Meha Jain, 2020. "The association between crop and income diversity and farmer intra-household dietary diversity in India," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 12(2), pages 369-390, April.
    9. Del Prete, Davide & Ghins, Léopold & Magrini, Emiliano & Pauw, Karl, 2019. "Land consolidation, specialization and household diets: Evidence from Rwanda," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 139-149.
    10. Schreefel, L. & de Boer, I.J.M. & Timler, C.J. & Groot, J.C.J. & Zwetsloot, M.J. & Creamer, R.E. & Schrijver, A. Pas & van Zanten, H.H.E. & Schulte, R.P.O., 2022. "How to make regenerative practices work on the farm: A modelling framework," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    11. Ola, Oreoluwa & Menapace, Luisa, 2020. "A meta-analysis understanding smallholder entry into high-value markets," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    12. Hammond, James & Siegal, Kim & Milner, Daniel & Elimu, Emmanuel & Vail, Taylor & Cathala, Paul & Gatera, Arsene & Karim, Azfar & Lee, Ja-Eun & Douxchamps, Sabine & Tu, Mai Thanh & Ouma, Emily & Lukuyu, 2022. "Perceived effects of COVID-19 restrictions on smallholder farmers: Evidence from seven lower- and middle-income countries," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    13. Janssen, Sander & van Ittersum, Martin K., 2007. "Assessing farm innovations and responses to policies: A review of bio-economic farm models," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 94(3), pages 622-636, June.
    14. Moojen, Fernanda Gomes & Ryschawy, Julie & dos Santos, Davi Teixeira & Barth Neto, Armindo & Vieira, Paulo Cardozo & Portella, Elisa & de Faccio Carvalho, Paulo César, 2022. "The farm coaching experience to support the transition to integrated crop–livestock systems: From gaming to action," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    15. Fleskens, Luuk & Graaff, Jan de, 2010. "Conserving natural resources in olive orchards on sloping land: Alternative goal programming approaches towards effective design of cross-compliance and agri-environmental measures," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 103(8), pages 521-534, October.
    16. Eastwood, C.R. & Turner, F.J. & Romera, A.J., 2022. "Farmer-centred design: An affordances-based framework for identifying processes that facilitate farmers as co-designers in addressing complex agricultural challenges," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    17. Gärtner, Dominique & Keller, Armin & Schulin, Rainer, 2013. "A simple regional downscaling approach for spatially distributing land use types for agricultural land," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 10-19.
    18. Lu, C. H. & van Ittersum, M. K. & Rabbinge, R., 2004. "A scenario exploration of strategic land use options for the Loess Plateau in northern China," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 79(2), pages 145-170, February.
    19. Lovo, Stefania & Veronesi, Marcella, 2019. "Crop Diversification and Child Health: Empirical Evidence From Tanzania," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 168-179.
    20. Chrisendo, Daniel & Krishna, Vijesh V. & Siregar, Hermanto & Qaim, Matin, 2020. "Land-use change, nutrition, and gender roles in Indonesian farm households," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:ssefpa:v:12:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1007_s12571-019-00985-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.