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A blind spot in food and nutrition security: where culture and social change shape the local food plate

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  • Anna-Lisa Noack

  • Nicky Pouw

Abstract

It is estimated that over 800 million people are hungry each day and two billion are suffering from the consequences of vitamin and mineral deficiencies. While a paradigm shift towards a multi-dimensional and multi-sectoral approach to food and nutrition insecurity is emerging, technical approaches largely prevail to tackle the causes of hunger and malnutrition. Founded in original in-depth field research among smallholder farmers in southwest Kenya, we argue that incorporating cultural or social dimensions in this technical debate is imperative and that by systematically overlooking these dimensions, food insecurity cannot be accurately captured nor properly addressed. Based on a sub-location in rural southwest Kenya where the food plate is rapidly narrowing towards a high-calorie low nutrient diet and where over 80 % of households experience food shortages at least once a year, conclusions suggest that preferences, the local function of food, and the practices that emerge therefrom can affect the regularity of meals and their composition. The findings allow us to complement emerging research and program development with a more comprehensive and locally adapted approach to tackle food and nutrition insecurity. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Anna-Lisa Noack & Nicky Pouw, 2015. "A blind spot in food and nutrition security: where culture and social change shape the local food plate," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(2), pages 169-182, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:32:y:2015:i:2:p:169-182
    DOI: 10.1007/s10460-014-9538-y
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Hom Gartaula & Kirit Patel & Derek Johnson & Rachana Devkota & Kamal Khadka & Pashupati Chaudhary, 2017. "From food security to food wellbeing: examining food security through the lens of food wellbeing in Nepal’s rapidly changing agrarian landscape," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(3), pages 573-589, September.
    3. Nicky Roberts & Buchari Mengge & Brietta Oaks & Novita Sari & Irsan & Austin Humphries, 2023. "Fish consumption pathways and food security in an Indonesian fishing community," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 15(1), pages 1-19, February.
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    5. Nawab Khan & Ram L. Ray & Hazem S. Kassem & Sajjad Hussain & Shemei Zhang & Muhammad Khayyam & Muhammad Ihtisham & Simplice A. Asongu, 2021. "Potential Role of Technology Innovation in Transformation of Sustainable Food Systems: A Review," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-20, October.
    6. Amy Savage & Hilary Bambrick & Danielle Gallegos, 2020. "From garden to store: local perspectives of changing food and nutrition security in a Pacific Island country," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 12(6), pages 1331-1348, December.
    7. Jessica R. Ham, 2020. "“Every day it’s tuo zaafi”: considering food preference in a food insecure region of Ghana," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(3), pages 907-917, September.
    8. Sara F. Brouwer, 2023. "Kumusha and masalads: (inter)generational foodways and urban food security in Zimbabwe," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(2), pages 761-775, June.

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