Agricultural Drivers of Children’s Nutrition and Food Security in Mvomero, Tanzania

Abstract

The main research question assessed in this paper is: What land use and agricultural practices most significantly influence nutritional and food security outcomes? In particular, are there specific crop growing or selling or irrigation practices that, when performed by a household, help to reduce the risk that children under five years old in that household are stunted or anemic or help to increase perceived food security by the household head? I use data collected in 2011 and 2013 in the Mvomero district of Tanzania in order to answer these questions. Using a combination of data at the household level on land use practices and on the individual level for health measures, I perform logit and linear regression analysis to identify any consistent significant associations between the two groups. My results are varied: some agricultural practices are associated with stunting or anemia, while others are more strongly associated with measures of food security. The number of children in a household is negatively associated with both food security measures, implying that larger households in the region have difficulty keeping up with food demands. My findings point to the fact that there is no silver bullet in the quest to improve childhood nutrition and food security in Mvomero, Tanzania and worldwide.