Investigating the current and potential role of local biodiversity in meeting nutritional

requirements from complementary foods of infants and young children (6-23 months) in

Southern Benin. West Africa

WP4 - FoodAfrica Final Seminar, Helsinki. 12 April 2016

Dr Gervais Ntandou-Bouzitou. Bioversity International. Benin Dr Céline Termote. Bioversity International. Dr Waliou Amoussa. University of Abomey Calavi Prof Marja Mutanen. University of Helsinki. Finland

Research question and objectives

Research question Why in the presence of high diversity of food sources undernutrition exists at high level in infant and young child (IYC) in villages of Bopa and Houeyogbe Districts in southern Benin? Objectives: • Assessing the current and potential role of local biodiversity in meeting

nutritional requirements for complementary foods of IYC (6-23 months) • Assessing determinants of complementary feeding and care practices and

IYC nutritional status • Developing safe, affordable and culturally acceptable optimized recipes and

feeding practices guidelines for use in the region through linear programming and community participation

Study sites and participants

•Rural areas of Bopa & Houeyogbe districts in Mono Department •High food insecurity rate (40.5% and 34.1% in Bopa and Houeyogbe, respectively) •High level of stunting (children chronic undernutrition)[> 30%] •17 villages (8 in Bopa; 9 in Houeyogbe) •1260 households with at least one child of 6 to 23 months old randomly selected •1 child per household

Benin

Mono Departement

Study districts

Sample characteristics All

(n = 1232) District

Bopa (n = 559) Houéyogbé (n = 673) p Age of child participating (mean ± sd) 14.5 ± 5.1 14.3 ± 5.1 14.7 ± 5.1 NS Household size (mean ± sd) 5.3 ± 1.9 5.5 ± 2.0 5.1 ± 1.8 <0.001 Primary caregiver age (mean ± sd) 28.3 ± 6.7 28.8 ± 6.4 28.0 ± 6.8 0.030

No formal education (illetrate) Primary caregiver (%) 66.8 79.8 56 <0.001 Household head (%) 49.4 70.2 32.7 <0.001

Crop production Primary caregiver (%) 32.0 46.4 20.0 <0.001 Household head (%) 43.5 58.5 31.0 <0.001

Livestock Primary caregiver (%) 18.4 20.2 17.0 NS Household head (%) 22.8 30.4 16.5 <0.001

Small Business Primary caregiver (%) 43.6 40.7 46.1 NS Household head (%) 2.9 2.8 3.0 NS

Craft industry (sewing. hairdressing. etc.) Primary caregiver (%) 19.4 17.8 20.7 NS Household head (%) 18.7 16.1 20.9 0.030

Richness of a large biodiversity for food and nutrition documented

148 edible animal species formally identified including: 6 domesticated birds, 57 wild birds, 4 crustaceans, 30 fish species, 9 domesticated mammals, 28 wild mammals, 3 mollusks and 11 reptiles

146 different edible plant species were documented. The family of the Malvaceae contained the most edible species documented (19 fully identified species) followed by Fabaceae (17 species), Amaranthaceae and Asteraceae (each with 8 species), Solanaceae (7 species) and Annonaceae, Dioscoreaceae and Rutaceae (each with 5 fully identified species).

2

Children’s undernutrition levels and determinants

30,6

5

17,5

23,9

5,2

17,5

Stunting Wasting underweight

Bopa Houeyogbe

31,5

6,2

17,3

22,2

3,9

15,3

Stunting Wasting underweight

Male Female

20,5

4,1

13,7

31,1

5,7

18,3

Stunting Wasting underweight

6-11 months 12-23 months

***

*

*** ***

Stunting:

• is the most prevalent form of undernutrition among IYC

• Age (12-23 months), sexe (male), low birth weight and place of residence (Bopa district) are the main determinants

* p<0.05; ***p<0.001

Household food security status (based on HFIAS tool)

23,2

8

20,1

48,7

17

7,7

27

48,4

Food secure Mildly food insecure

Moderately food insecure

Severely food insecure

Bopa Houeyogbe

***

*** p< 0.001 0,0% 10,0% 20,0% 30,0% 40,0% 50,0% 60,0% 70,0% 80,0%

TchantchankpoDjidjozoun

AgbodjiHounviatouin

TèkozouinDhodhoTokpoè

KpavéBOPA

SohounmèDodji

Dahe-KpodjiAguêhon

LogohouéAgongohGbagagli

TohonZoungbonouHOUEYOGBE

Food secure

HOUEYOGBE

BOPA

Food Insecurity coping strategies (%)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Reducing quantity normallyconsumed by adults for the

benefit of the children

Obtaining food with a loan(without immediate

payment)

Eating wild foods orharvesting immature crops

Eating seeds/grain normallyreserved for sowing

Allow children looking foodfor themselves elsewhere

Bopa Houeyogbe

***

*** p< 0.001

***

Children’s recommended food group consumption (%)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Cereal, roots &tubers

Legumes and nuts Dairy products Poultry, fish, meat Eggs VitaminA richfruits & vegetables

Other fruits andvegetables

Bopa Houeyobe

***

***

**

*

***

**p<0.01 *** p<0;001

Percentage of children meeting WHO recomendations for complementary feeding practices

0102030405060708090

100

Minimum dietary diversity (≥ 4 food groups) Minimum meal frequency Minimun acceptable diet

Bopa Houeyogbe

* **

* p<0.05 **p<0.01

Children meeting WHO/FAO recommended daily nutrient intake (%)

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Energy Protein Vitamine A Calcium Iron Zinc

Bopa Houeyogbe

Characterization of IYC complementary foods

• Maize-based products are dominant as staple foods

• Most of the recipes are leafy-vegetable based sauces with red palm juice, red palm-oil or vegetable oil

• No specific foods are prepared/given as complementary foods (IYC eat from the family pot)

Top 10 recipes frequenly used as complementary foods for IYC

Frequency (%)

Maize porridge 62.4

Corchorus olitorius (Jute mallow) sauce 48.3

Rice with sauce 26.2

Okra sauce 21.8

Fried tomato 20.4

Solanum spp leaves sauce 17.6

Tomato sauce 13.4

Palm nut sauce 11.4

Pasta (macaroni) 10.3

Vernonia spp leaves (bitter leaf) sauce 4.9

• Corchorus olitorius (Jute mallow) sauce is widely consumed (48%), but limited in several micronutrients (Iron, Vit. B1, B2, B3, B6, Vit. C)

• Good improvement is possible using Linear Programming (LP) and iron-rich wild species: Bidens pilosa (Beggar's tick leaves)

Optimization of recipes using linear programming and wild species from local biodiversity: a concrete example

Corchorus olitorius (Jute mallow)

Bidens pilosa (Beggar's tick leaves)

Improvement of nutrient density of original recipe by linear programming + iron-rich wild species from local biodiversity

Nutrient densities (Unit/kcal)

Nutrients Recommended values (DRI)

Original recipe (Corchorus olitorius)

Optimized recipe (Corchorus olitorius + Bidens pilosa + LP)

Protein (g/kcal) 0,01000 0,04299 0,07580 Vitamin A (ug RE/kcal) 0,81000 4,56243 4,00748 Calcium (mg/kcal) 0,40000 1,65047 2,56449 Iron (mg/kcal) 0,05300 0,00760 0,05300 Zinc ( mg/kcal) 0,01100 0,93773 1,42828 Riboflavin (mg/kcal) 0,00080 0,00076 0,00120 Thiamin ( mg/kcal) 0,00080 0,00024 0,00037 Niacin (mg/kcal) 0,01500 0,00503 0,00767 Folate (ug/kcal) 0,11000 0,11930 0,19240 Vitamin B6 (mg/kcal) 0,00120 0,00059 0,00090 Vitamin C ( (mg/kcal) 0,11000 0,06209 0,09835 Nuber of limited nutrient 5 2

Test of acceptability with mothers and children to validate results of optimized recipes from linear programming

Promoting good feeding and care practices in local communities through nutritional education using posters and videos (dissemination activities)

Specific aspect of interest of the results • The results confirms the richness of local biodiversity for food and nutrition, either

plant or animal species and implications for diets, food security, agriculture, livelihoods and environment;

• Results also highlight important role of wild foods as a food security coping strategy. The breaking news in our findings are that consumption of wild foods is correlated to mean probability of adequacy of micronutrients from the diet, meaning that wild foods provide important contributions to food and nutrition security and resilience, particularly during months of staple food scarcity.

• Probability of adequacy of micronutrients from the diet was also correlated with caregivers education, this indicates the great potential of nutrition education adapted to local context for providing information and promoting good feeding practices in order to improve maternal and child nutrition and community diets

Significance and implications of the results

• Concrete examples of opportunities for households and individual of how to fill the nutrient gaps (i.e.: iron, zinc and calcium), and meet requirements based on diversity of local foods through consumption of more diverse foods were shown. This will improve resilience and livelihoods through markets (domestication and selling to local market of identified nutritious wild species and NUS), contributing to mitigate the effects on food insecurity;

• Through the development of locally appropriate nutrition messages our research

has helped to fill gaps in nutrition education materials both for caregivers as well as for community health workers and agriculture extension agents.

WP4 topic is directly linked to 10 of the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) showing the importance of investment in this area to achieve economic growth and sustainable development of the country • 1. No poverty • 2. Zero hunger • 3. Good helth and well-being • 4. Quality education • 5. Gender equality • 6. Clean water and sanitation • 10. Reduced inequalities • 11. Sustainable cities and communities • 12. Responsible consumption and production • 17. Partnership for the goals

Methodologies and tools developped will be adapted and used in other contexts within the country and beyond to improving mothers and children nutrition and health

Implications of the results for decision makers and scientific community

www.bioversityinternational.org

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