Abstract
An adequate supply of energy, micronutrients and macronutrients is essential to achieve food and nutrition security to prevent malnutrition. Socio-economic, political, and climatic events, however, can affect the supply of food and nutrients. We assessed country-level supply trends of food and nutrients and their sources within the context of policy changes and political, socio-economic and climatic events from 1961 to 2013 in Zambia. Due to the lack of national food consumption data, food supply data from the FAO food balance sheets, matched to food composition tables, were used to estimate the energy, macronutrient and micronutrient content of 264 food items available to Zambia. We calculated historical nutrient supplies based on demographic characteristics and population-level dietary requirements. Results showed that Zambia was nutrition insecure from 1961 to 2013 for key micronutrients vitamin A, folate, riboflavin, vitamin B12, calcium, zinc, iron, and energy-deficient from the late-1980s. The diet has not substantially changed over time, with maize being the dominant food source. However, refined energy-dense food has steadily increased in the diet coupled with a reduction in fibre. These nutrient supply and dietary pattern trends coincide with specific socio-economic, policy, political, and climatic events from the 1970s to the early-mid 2000s, such as population growth, maize subsidy and crop diversification policies, regime change and drought. This study shows how policy, political and climatic events have been central features shaping nutrient supplies and the consequences for nutrition security. The study provides a context to inform future food policies to improve food and nutrition security.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 323-342 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Food Security |
| Volume | 15 |
| Early online date | 22 Nov 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Apr 2023 |
Bibliographical note
AcknowledgementsWe would like to thank the Zambia Statistical Agency and FAOSTAT, the statistics division of the FAO, for allowing us to use their data. We also acknowledge the following for their expert contributions regarding food consumption in Zambia: Innocent Ndashe, Executive Director, Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection, Zambia; Nancy Sakala, Principal Nutritionist, Ministry of Agriculture, Zambia; Rhoda Mofya-Mukuka, Senior Research Fellow, Indaba Agriculture Policy Research Institute, Zambia; Marjolein Smit-Mwanamwenge, Nutritionist, World Food Programme, Zambia; Musadabwe Chulu, Senior Policy Officer, Ministry of Agriculture. We would like to thank the reviewers for their feedback.
Funding
This research was funded under UK Research and Innovation Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (UKRI-BBSRC) as part of the Global Challenges Research Fund project Agricultural and Food-system Resilience: Increasing Capacity and Advising Policy (GCRF-AFRICAP) grant number BB/P027784/1. JIM time was supported by The Scottish Government’s Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS).
Data Availability Statement
The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in the White Rose Repository at Kapulu et al. (2022): Estimated energy, macronutrient and micronutrient supply for Zambia 1961 to 2013 – raw data. [Dataset] https://doi.org/10.5518/1111The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-022-01329-1.
Keywords
- Micronutrients
- Food balance sheets
- Food security
- Nutrition Security
- Policy
- Zambia
Access to Document
- Kapulu_etal_FS_Evolution_Of_Energy_VoR
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