Home-grown school feeding: promoting local production systems diversification through nutrition sensitive agriculture

Abstract

The consumption of some non-staple crops such as legumes and dark, green leafy vegetables can address common deficiencies in key nutrients such as vitamin A and iron; however, limited markets and supply chain development impede their production and accessibility to consumers. This study investigates the pathways to promote agricultural production and dietary diversity for a local market intervention called Home-Grown School Feeding (HGSF). School feeding menus from 24 districts across 10 regions in Ghana during the 2014-15 school year were analysed in terms of food groups and several individual foods. The menus were then compared with food groups produced by households during the past year or consumed in the past seven days using data collected from a household survey. Greater inter-food group diversity in the menus was associated with higher production levels for tubers and dark, leafy green vegetables in the South and cereals in the North. A correspondence between the frequency in which a food group appeared in a menu and the share of households who consumed foods from the food group was also noted. Key issues, such as optimizing supply chains, enabling farm linkages and supporting diverse nutrient rich food groups, that underlie the success of Home-Grown School Feeding and other agricultural policies with similar goals of promoting production and dietary diversity are highlighted through commodity specific examples. The findings of this study may help strengthen operational linkages between agriculture production and nutrition for HGSF and other similar interventions.

Keywords: Dietary diversity; Policy approaches; Production diversity; Structured demand; Sub-Saharan Africa; Sustainable food systems.

Fig. 1

Distribution of agro-ecological zones and location of the 24 study districts. Notes: Agro-ecological zones are delineated by the dotted lines and include: Rainforest, Coastal savannah, Deciduous forest, Transitional zone, Guinea savannah, and Savannah. The red dots indicate the districts represented in the study. The map is based on a figure from Kemausuor et al.

Fig. 2

a Intra-food diversity in menus, overall. Notes: Sample was 24 district menus from Ghana. The definition of food groups follows Kennedy et al. . b Inter-food diversity in menus, by geographic region. Notes: Sample was 24 district menus from Ghana. The definition of food groups follows Kennedy et al.

Fig. 3

Share of households producing and consuming individual foods, and inclusion of individual foods in menus, by region. Notes: Sample limited to farming and non-farming households in the 24 study districts of Ghana. North includes Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions while South includes the other seven regions of Ghana. Survey data collected in Summer 2013. Food groups defined as per Kennedy (2013). T-tests used to assess North/South differences in survey data results: * p < 0.05, **, p < 0.01, *** p <0.001

Fig. 4

Simulation results for annual, national demand from the GSFP for the five food groups. Notes: a) North includes Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions while South includes the other seven regions of Ghana. Food groups defined b) The lower bound was extrapolated based on the menu from the region with the lowest quantity of the food group. The upper bound was extrapolated based on the menu from the region with the highest quantity of the food group