Pig farmers, pig eaters? Characterizing household and child feeding practices among smallholder pig farmers in Uganda Silvia Alonso1, Edwin Kangethe1, Kristina Roesel1,2 , Nicholas Ngwili1, Emmanuel Muunda1, Delia Grace1 ©Martin Heilmann/ ILRI, FUB 1International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya; 2 Freie Universität Berlin, Germany Background In Uganda, livestock production represents an important source of livelihoods for many people. In response to a fast growing demand for pork, and given the easier management requirements for pigs compared to other livestock, many families venture into pig production as a business opportunity. Previous assessments have reported limited diet diversity in smallholder pig farming households in Uganda, with pork as the most common meat consumed. Little is known on the specifics of children’s feeding habits and its drivers. AIM: To characterize household and children feeding practices in pig farming communities in Uganda Methods Household survey conducted in pig raising households in 60 randomly selected villages in Kamuli district, Eastern Uganda, as part of a larger trial (Feb-Mar 2017): pig farming knowledge and practices, and household food consumption, with emphasis on diets of children between 6-59 months. Quantitative observations were compared and complemented with findings from a set of participatory rural appraisals conducted in 2012/13: information on pork consumption habits and knowledge, attitudes towards pork safety and pork preparation practices was collected from 295 subsistence pig farmers (100 in Kamuli), 66% of them women (70% in Kamuli). Results fish Rural Kamuli district (n=4) pork fish goat Children <5 (n=399) pork beef daily goat 100 weekly chicken beef 90 monthly chicken eggs 80 occasionally eggs 70 milk milk 60 fish 50 40 Urban Mukono district (n=6) pork 30 goat fish 20 beef 10 pork 0 goat daily chicken weekly beef eggs monthly chicken occasionally milk eggs 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% milk kept at home for sale only both kept at home for household consumption only Adults (n=687) Fig 4. While in urban areas (top) livestock is kept for both sale and Fig 2. Consumption of animal sourced food (ASF) 100 consumption, in rural areas (bottom) livestock such as pigs, goats and 90 in rural (top) and urban (bottom) Uganda. cattle are kept mostly for income generation. 80 70 60 50 40 30 Village 1 Village 2 Village 3 Village 4 Village 5 20 10 Which foods or drinks do your children eat from Irish potato, sweet potato, passion Milk, Irish potatoes, Eggs, milk, chickens, Posho, eggs, milk, 0 Milk, eggs, silver fish weaning until 3 years of age? fruit, fish sauce, milk, posho bananas pork stew greens, silver fish proper growth; body building; silver eggs and milk for body building foods Why are ASF given to young children? body building foods body building foods fish prevents measles proper growth and nutritious Fig 1. What ASF are not good to give to young meat because the digestive of children goats meat causes no no no 24-hour-recall for children < 5 years and adults children? Why? is very weak to digest the food measles, diarrhea Fig 3. The role of animal source foods in children‘s diets in five pig farming villages in Kamuli district. Key messages • Diets are rich in fruits, tubers and vegetables – not surprising in a fertile agricultural land. • Frequency of ASF in diets is LOW (except milk and dairy products) – pork the most common meat consumed (not from own herd). • 72% children had 2-3 meals/day. Childrens’ frequency of meat consumption associated with household meat consumption habits. • Pig farmers understand meat is “body building” food. Some villages report taboos around children (<3yrs) and meat consumption. • All villages report milk and eggs as positive for children growth. • Most houses (70%) report children get the most important food, 11% of households state women get the most important food. • Hygiene practices are suboptimal – 67% of children had diarrhea in the previous 2 weeks. 85% of households do not boil the children’s drinking water. Silvia Alonso s.alonso@cgiar.org ● ILRI Campus, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia ● +251 11 617 2126 The projects was funded by: UK Department for International Development (DFID), GSMA, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Germany and CGIAR CRP Agriculture for Nutrition and Health. This document is licensed for use under a Creative Commons Attribution –Non commercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License October 2015 Proportion Proportion Kamuli (n=4) Mukono (n=6)