Fruit and vegetable consumption is below the WHO recommendations, globally, in Southeast Asia, and in West Africa. Affordability, accessibility, and acceptability are the main drivers of consumption. Nutrition-sensitive food system interventions that address these drivers may be effective in increasing fruit and vegetable consumption. This study evaluates the effect of an integrated nutrition-sensitive program that aimed to in...

Although the production-to-consumption pathway is widely promoted to improve diet quality in developing world, its contribution to individual diet and nutrient intake remains unclear. We assessed this relationship among 377 children aged 6 to 59 months in three zones characterized by landscape diversity along an agricultural intensification gradient from the state forest of Munesa to the nearby town of Arsi Negele, Ethiopia du...

This study aimed to test the acceptability, cultural appropriateness, consumers' understanding, and practicality of the Ethiopian food-based dietary guideline's messages, tips, and food graphics. A qualitative study design was applied with focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Four different participant groups were included: 40 consumers, 15 high-level nutrition experts, 30 frontline community health extension...

In rural sub-Saharan Africa, where malnutrition in all its forms is rife, the greatest gap between the availability of foods and the foods needed for a nutritious diet are faced during the ‘hunger season’. We investigated what rural households in Northern Ghana would need to grow to ensure year-round availability of a nutrient adequate diet or the income required to fulfil their dietary needs. We applied linear programming to...

This study examined the use of the household dietary diversity score (HDDS) to assess household nutrient adequacy in Ethiopia. It also examined the correlates of HDDS following the food systems framework. Results show that the average nutrient consumption in Ethiopia varies by place of residence and by income profile, where households in urban areas and those in the higher income quintiles rank favorably. Among 13 nutrients un...

Taking a food systems approach is a promising strategy for improving diets. Implementing such an approach would require the use of a comprehensive set of metrics to characterize food systems, set meaningful goals, track food system performance, and evaluate the impacts of food system interventions. Food system metrics are also useful to structure debates and communicate to policy makers and the general public. This paper provi...

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 nutritio...