Can the right composition and diversity of farmed species improve food security among smallholder farmers?

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cg.authorship.typesCGIAR and advanced research institute
cg.contributor.affiliationRothamsted Research
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Institute of Tropical Agriculture
cg.contributor.crpMaize
cg.contributor.crpRoots, Tubers and Bananas
cg.contributor.donorUK Research and Innovation
cg.coverage.countryKenya
cg.coverage.countryNigeria
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2KE
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2NG
cg.coverage.regionAfrica
cg.coverage.regionEastern Africa
cg.coverage.regionWestern Africa
cg.creator.identifierLieven Claessens: 0000-0003-2961-8990
cg.creator.identifierbernard vanlauwe: 0000-0001-6016-6027
cg.howPublishedFormally Published
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2022.744700
cg.identifier.iitathemeNATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
cg.isijournalISI Journal
cg.issn2571-581X
cg.journalFrontiers in Sustainable Food System
cg.number744700
cg.reviewStatusPeer Review
cg.subject.iitaAGRONOMY
cg.subject.iitaFOOD SECURITY
cg.subject.iitaLIVELIHOODS
cg.subject.iitaPLANT BREEDING
cg.subject.iitaPLANT PRODUCTION
cg.subject.iitaSMALLHOLDER FARMERS
cg.subject.impactAreaNutrition, health and food security
cg.subject.sdgSDG 2 - Zero hunger
cg.volume6
dc.contributor.authorMacLaren, C.
dc.contributor.authorAliyu, K.T.
dc.contributor.authorWaswa, W.
dc.contributor.authorStorkey, J.
dc.contributor.authorClaessens, Lieven
dc.contributor.authorVanlauwe, Bernard
dc.contributor.authorMead, A.
dc.date.accessioned2022-05-05T12:23:45Zen
dc.date.available2022-05-05T12:23:45Zen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/119475
dc.titleCan the right composition and diversity of farmed species improve food security among smallholder farmers?en
dcterms.abstractFood security and livelihoods among smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are often constrained by limited farm resource endowment. It can be difficult to improve resource endowment given barriers such as low land availability and the unaffordability of agricultural inputs, so here we ask whether farmers can gain a better return on their resources through optimizing their farm strategy in terms of the composition and/or diversity of crop and livestock species raised. Our survey of 1,133 smallholder farmers in western Kenya and northern Nigeria, using a modified version of RHoMIS, indicated that different farm strategies were related to differences in food security and farm incomes. In particular, we found that it was possible for farms with a high species richness but low resource endowment to achieve similar or better food security and income outcomes than farms with low species richness and high resource endowment. This indicates strong potential for diversification to improve food security and livelihoods among smallholder farmers. However, further research will be required to prove a causal relationship. We also noted some exceptions to this trend that require investigation: increasing species richness was not beneficial for low-resourced, livestock-focused farmers in western Kenya, and increasing species richness was associated with a decline in dietary diversity in northern Nigeria (due to declines in purchased dietary diversity that outweighed increases in on-farm and other sources of dietary diversity). Similar analyses could be applied to a wider RHoMIS dataset covering a greater diversity of countries and agro-ecological zones to help identify where, and why, different farm strategies result in better or worse outcomes for smallholder farmers.en
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dcterms.audienceScientists
dcterms.available2022-04-01
dcterms.bibliographicCitationMacLaren, C., Aliyu, K.T., Waswa, W., Storkey, J., Claessens, L., Vanlauwe, B. & Mead, A. (2022). Can the right composition and diversity of farmed species improve food security among smallholder farmers?. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 6 : 744700, 1-19.en
dcterms.extent1-19
dcterms.issued2022
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0
dcterms.publisherFrontiers Media
dcterms.subjectfarmsen
dcterms.subjectcropsen
dcterms.subjectcompositionen
dcterms.subjectfood securityen
dcterms.subjectsmallholdersen
dcterms.subjectfarmersen
dcterms.subjecthorticultureen
dcterms.subjectecologyen
dcterms.subjectfood scienceen
dcterms.typeJournal Article

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