Nutritional Effects of Agricultural Diversification and Commercialization in Children in Zambia

Zambia and particularly the Eastern province have one of the highest rates of malnutrition in the world. The most vulnerable are the children from rural households which depend entirely on seasonal agricultural production and income, and survive on diets that are deficiency in proteins and other important nutrients. Agricultural diversification and commercialization provide alternative strategies for sustainable all-year-round household food and income availability. Applying Propensity Score Marching (PSM) and Generalized Propensity Score (GPS), this article evaluates the impact of agricultural diversification (in terms of calorie and protein production) and commercialization on reducing malnutrition in the Eastern province of Zambian. We use a uniquely rich dataset that comprises socioeconomic, agricultural and anthropometric data of 1120 children from five districts in the Eastern province. Results from PSM do not show significant impact of agricultural diversification and commercialization on reducing malnutrition while GPS results show that higher degrees of diversification reduce malnutrition. However, commercialization tends to have a negative effect particularly for short- and middle-term nutrition outcomes, where capital accumulation through higher purchasing power might have less impact. Policies need to consider the current diversification intensity of farmers and the different consequences on wasting and stunting when implementing diversification strategies. High levels of diversification could improve the wasting and underweight status of children by delivering a high amount of nutrients, but may come at the cost of reducing the efficiency of the farm and thus increasing the possibility of longer term stunting. Interventions focused on improving agricultural diversification and high degrees of commercialization may enhance adequate and diverse protein and calorie sources, while at the same time households will have excess produce for the market to meet their income demands