Dominguez-Salas, Paula ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8753-4221, Kauffmann, Domitille, Breyne, Christophe and Alarcon, Pablo (2019) Leveraging human nutrition through livestock interventions: perceptions, knowledge, barriers and opportunities in the Sahel. Food Security, 11 (4). pp. 777-796. ISSN 1876-4517 (Print), 1876-4525 (Online) (doi:10.1007/s12571-019-00957-4)

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Abstract

The potential of livestock and animal-source foods (ASF) to improve nutrition of vulnerable households in the Sahel countries is large, but currently underutilised, despite the dependence of human nutrition on livestock in some areas. This study assesses the perceptions of the linkages between livestock and human nutrition interventions by West African implementers; the challenges faced; and the lessons learnt to significantly leverage nutrition in livestock interventions. Here, we report a qualitative study combining: 1) a formative research with semi-structured interviews of key informants [n = 36], and thematic analysis; and 2) a participatory work conducted during a regional workshop. Results were grouped to provide insights into several aspects: a) dietary, storage and preservation practices of ASF, b) livestock-human nutrition impact pathways, c) interventions with potential to improve nutrition, d) monitoring and evaluation, e) coordination issues, and f) knowledge gaps. Thirteen pathways were identified through which livestock impacts human nutrition, each presenting different trade-offs. About 79% of the participants of the workshop and working with livestock reported to never having monitored outcomes of attempts to improve human nutrition. Lessons learnt highlighted the importance of local ASF taboos and beneficiary targeting and identified promising interventions. The principal challenges identified were related to capacity-building, programming, or to funding issues. There was agreement among stakeholders on the importance of livestock and ASF to improve human nutrition, and on the prominent disconnect whereby livestock interventions often neglect human nutritional goals, due to the complexity of impact pathways and the multiple roles of livestock in livelihoods. Stronger collaboration among researchers and implementers could contribute to expanding the body of evidence. This compilation of insights could promote dialogue and guide further progress.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© FAO 2019. Open Access. This article is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. If you remix, transform, or build upon this article or a part thereof, you must distribute your contributions under the same licence as the original. The use of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)’s name, and the use of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)’s logo, shall be subject to a separate written licence agreement between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the user and is not authorized as part of this CC-IGO licence. Note that the link provided above includes additional terms and conditions of the licence. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/igo/.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	nutrition, livestock, West Africa
Subjects:	S Agriculture > SF Animal culture
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Engineering & Science Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute > Food & Markets Department
Last Modified:	09 Sep 2021 10:40
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/29121

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