title: Diet Diversity in Pastoral and Agro-pastoral Households in Ugandan Rangeland Ecosystems.
abstract: We explore how diet diversity differs with agricultural seasons and between households within pastoral and agro-pastoral livelihood systems, using variety of foods consumed as a less complex proxy indicator of food insecurity than benchmark indicators like anthropometry and serum nutrients. The study was in the central part of the rangelands in Uganda. Seventy nine households were monitored for three seasons, and eight food groups consumed during a 24 hour diet recall period used to create a household diet diversity score (HDDS). Mean HDDS was 3.2, varied significantly with gender, age, livelihood system and season (p<.001, F=15.04), but not with household size or household head's education level. Agro-pastoralists exhibited lower mean diet diversity than pastoralists (p<.01, F=7.84) and among agro-pastoralists, households headed by persons over 65 years were most vulnerable (mean HDDS 2.1). This exploratory study raises issues requiring further investigation to inform policies on nutrition security in the two communities.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biosecurity, Ecosystem and Public Health , College of Veterinary Medicine, Makerere University , Kampala , Uganda.
authors.forename: Maureen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mayanja
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rubaire-Akiiki
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Morton
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: Ted
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Greiner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000383:Agriculture; D004032:Diet / Q000592:standards; D017753:Ecosystem; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005523:Food Supply; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011203:Poverty; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012621:Seasons; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014454:Uganda; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: food insecurity; household diet diversity; livelihood system; pastoral; seasonal variation