Providing legume seeds for agricultural intervention results in a wide range of nutritional and social benefits.
PHOTO: SABENA JANE BLACKBIRD / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
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Providing legume seeds for agricultural intervention results in a wide range of nutritional and social benefits.
PHOTO: SABENA JANE BLACKBIRD / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
Agricultural interventions to improve human nutrition do not always recognize ecological and social processes. To explore how multiple aspects of farming can be integrated, Santoso et al. designed an agricultural intervention study among Tanzanian smallholder farmers. Mentor farmers were asked to share agricultural information, and legume seeds were supplied to participating villages for two growing seasons between 2016 and 2019. Although the effect depended on local context, by comparison with similar programs using more expensive livestock interventions, this study achieved results at the upper end of the range. Although little change was observed in anthropometric measures, children’s diet was diversified, household food insecurity improved, men became more involved in household tasks, and women’s well-being improved.
J. Nutr. 10.1093/jn/nxab052 (2021).