Variety for security: A case study in Western Kenya. A presentation given by Mary Kanui, PhD student (Geography & Environment) Find out more about this research: http://www.bioversityinternational.org/news/detail/improving-nutrition-through-local-agricultural-biodiversity-in-kenya/

1. Variety for security: A case study in
Western Kenya
Mary Kanui, PhD student (Geography & Environment)
28th August 2014

2. Outline
1. Background & objectives
2. Methods
3. Completed research: results
3.1 Farm agrobiodiversity
3.2 Market agrobiodiversity
1. Upcoming research: overview
4.1 Nutrient diversity
4.2 Dietary diversity
1. Conclusions & recommendations

3. Background &
objectives

4. 1. Agrobiodiversity as a path to household food security?
• Food security: availability, accessibility, utilization of adequate
food
• Agrobiodiversity: components of biodiversity of relevance to food
& agriculture
• In Africa, up to 80% of agriculture practised by smallholder
farmers
• To what extent does agrobiodiversity contribute to food, nutrition
& health?

5. 1. Agrobiodiversity- Kenyan context
• Species numbers:
• ~ 35,000 animal, plant & micro-organism species
• 3 sustaining species: maize, wheat, rice (Ekesa, 2009)
• High food shortfalls and malnutrition rate
• Yet local agrobiodiversity under-utilized as primary food security
resource (Frison et al., 2006)
• Western Kenya:
• High agrobiodiversity
• But 50% population below poverty line with high malnutrition and
poor health (Abukutsa-Onyango, 2002)

6. 1. Study objectives
Food plant diversity (animals and plants) & underlying
factors
Food accessibility & market integration
Functional diversity (animals and plants)
Dietary diversity (overall household, women)

7. Methods

8. 2. Study sites
Teso south
LM1, LM2
1550-1800 mm
Bondo
LM 3-5
1020-1100 mm
Mumias
LM1
1800-2000 mm
Vihiga
UM1
1800->2000 mm
© Bioversity 2012

9. 2. Research instruments
Farm survey
•Goals: 1) ABD richness, abundance& usage (
2) food sources (3) dietary diversity (T3)
•Scope: 30 farms (0.37ha) in 6 villages
•Time: Sep/Oct ‘12(T1), Nov/Dec ‘12 (T2) &
July/Aug ‘14 (T3)
Market survey
•Goal: Food sources, prices & availability
•Scope: 7 markets
•Time: Sep/Oct ‘12 (T1) & July/Aug ‘14 (T2)
Focus Group Discussions
•Goal: Perceptions on ABD by farmers
(gender-disaggregated)
•Scope: 12 discussions
•Time: Sep/Oct ‘12

10. Results
(completed research)

11. 3. Completed research
3.1 Farm agrobiodiversity
3.2 Market agrobiodiversity

12. Differentiation of key terms
• Species: basic taxonomic unit for distinct organisms
• Varieties: different types within a species naturally occurring
• Cultivars: cultivated varieties
• Species richness: number of different distinct organisms
• Species abundance: number of individuals per species

13. 3.1.1 ABD (on-farm food plant) richness
Teso
71 species
Bondo
72 species
Mumias
48 species
Vihiga
47 species
© Bioversity 2012

14. 3.1.1 Most common plant ABD (Mumias & Vihiga)
SSoorrgghhuumm
bbiiccoolloorr
VVeeggeettaabblleess
ZZeeaa mmaayyss
CCeerreeaallss
SSttaarrcchhyy rroooottss
PPuullsseess Phaseolus
vvuullggaarriiss
SSaacccchhaarruumm
HHiigghh--ssuuggaarr ffooooddss ooffffiicciinnaarruumm LL..
FFrruuiittss
BBrraassssiiccaa
oolleerraacceeaa
VViiggnnaa
uunngguuiiccuullaattaa
IIppoommooeeaa
bbaattaattaass
PPeerrsseeaa
aammeerriiccaannaa
MMuussaa
ssaappiieennttuumm
CCaappssiiccuumm
aannnnuuuumm SSppiicceess

15. SSoorrgghhuumm
bbiiccoolloorr
VVeeggeettaabblleess
ZZeeaa mmaayyss
CCeerreeaallss
SSttaarrcchhyy rroooottss
PPhhaasseeoolluuss PPuullsseess
vvuullggaarriiss
SSaacccchhaarruumm
HHiigghh--ssuuggaarr ffooooddss ooffffiicciinnaarruumm LL..
FFrruuiittss
CCoommmmeelliinnaa
SSpppp..
BBiiddeennss
ppiilloossaa
MMaanniihhoott
eessccuulleennttaa
LLaannttaannaa
ccaammaarraa
PPssiiddiiuumm
gguuaajjaavvaa
3.1.1 Most common plant ABD (Teso & Bondo)
SSppiicceess
CCaappssiiccuumm
aannnnuuuumm

16. 3.1.1 ABD importance in the 2 agro-ecological zones
Summed Dominance Ratio (SDR) of food plant species

17. 3.2.2 Factors influencing plant ABD
Species
richness
Shannon
index
Shannon
evenness
Adjusted R2
Predictor variables
TLU/household
member
(0.00-0.41;
TLU=Tropical
Livestock Units)
Household head age
(22-57)
Farming years (0.5-
30)
Ethnicity of household
head is Luhya (0=no,
1=yes)
Shannon index Diversity
Shannon evenness

18. 3.2.2 Factors influencing plant ABD
Species richness Shannon index Shannon
evenness
Adjusted R2 49.1** 22.8** 25.8*
Predictor variables
TLU/household member
0.5*** ns ns
(0.00-0.41;
TLU=Tropical Livestock
Units)
Household head age
(22-57)
0.5** ns ns
Farming years (0.5-30) ns 0.5** 0.4*
Ethnicity of household
ns ns 0.4*
head is Luhya (0=no,
1=yes)
For each of the predictor variables, standardized beta (β) coefficients are indicated. *, **and *** represent significant differences at p ≤0.05, p ≤0.01,
p ≤0.001, respectively according to F-Test (for the model) or T-Test (for predictor variables)

19. 3.1.2 Farm types: plant ABD composition
V-126
V-122
V-123
M-095
V-020
V-015
V-078
V-079
M-100
V-072
V-121
V-018
M-056
V-074
V-071
V-012
M-148
M-145
M-099
M-098
M-054
M-144
M-092
M-059
M-060
M-053
720 600 480 360 240 120 0
Minimum variance- Squared Euclidean - Data log(e) transformed density matrix
‘Long-standing cereal-sweet potato’
‘Cereal’
‘Large sugarcane’

20. 3.1.3 ABD & household food security: is there a relationship?
No direct relationship between food plant ABD & household hunger
scores
Proportion of on-farm food consumed during the last five times of consumption

21. 3.1 Farm agrobiodiversity: Summary
 Importance of some food groups varies
with agro-ecological zones
 Food plant species richness is mainly
influenced by socio-economic factors
 There is no direct relationship

22. 3. Completed research
3.1 Farm agrobiodiversity
3.2 Market agrobiodiversity

23. 3.2.1 What is the role of markets in household food access?
(M)=Mumias, (V)= Vihiga Proportion of food sources during the last five times of consumption

24. 3.2.2 What are the uses of on-farm produce?
(M)=Mumias, (V)= Vihiga Main food uses

25. 3.2.3 What is the extent of smallholder market integration?
• Out of the interviewed market traders:
• 15%: smallholder farmers/part-time traders
•10%: small scale/travelling traders
•75%: large scale traders/ wholesalers

26. 3.2 Market agrobiodiversity: Summary
Smallholders access from multiple sources
Smallholders produce food for both home
consumption and for sale
Smallholders are least involved as sellers in
formal markets

27. Overview
(upcoming research)

28. 4. Upcoming research
4.1 Nutrient diversity
4.2 Dietary diversity

29. 4.1 Nutrient diversity
• Species richness explains taxonomic identity, not functional identity
• Nutritional functional diversity metrics:
• summarize nutritional diversity of cropping systems
• Previous studies:
•Presence/absence-based functional diversity metric (Remans et al., 2011,
DeClerck et al., 2011)
• Gap on abundance-based functional diversity metric:
• Available data: abundance of on-farm food plants and livestock
• Unavailable data: abundance of foods sourced off-farm

30. 4.1 Nutrient diversity: key questions
 What nutrients are available and what are missing for smallholders
to have a diverse diet?
 Using market price as proxy for food accessibility, how does food
accessibility compare to income levels?

31. 4. Upcoming research
4.1 Nutrient diversity
4.2 Dietary diversity

32. 4.2 Dietary diversity
• Households with higher incomes can compensate for reduced
on-farm ABD…
… but depends on who controls the income
• Subsistence-oriented crops viewed as women’s ‘domestic’
domain
•On-farm cultivation of nutritious foods…
… doesn’t translate to equal food access for all household
members

33. 4.2 Dietary diversity: key questions
 How does food diversity vary across households, using 1-day and
7-day recalls?
 Is there a relationship between agricultural and dietary diversity
among these households?

34. Conclusions &
recommendations

35. 5. Conclusions & recommendations
• Smallholder farmers utilize multiple channels to attain household
food security
• Households with subsistence-oriented farming systems are not
necessarily more food and nutrition secure
• Smallholder farmers need support to:
– diversify more into high-value nutrient-dense crops and livestock
species (mention lydia’s concl.on ASFs to create connection)
– get organised to fill in local market gaps & add value to surplus
(perishable) produce
– improve access to formal markets & market traders

36. Acknowledgements
• Supervisors:
– Dr. Gudrun Keding (Bioversity)
– Dr. Katja Kehlenbeck (ICRAF)
– Dr. Patricia Daley (Oxford)
– Dr. Shonil Bhagwat (Oxford)
• Funding sources:
– Tuition funding at Oxford:
Rhodes Trust
– Project funding at Bioversity:
GIZ-BMZ & CRP A4NH
• Plant specialists:
– Patrick Maundu
• Smallholder farmers & market
traders
• Local administration & contact
persons
• Research assistants & data
entry clerks
• INULA colleagues & Bioversity
Staff

37. Thank you
www.bioversityinternational.org