Advancing human nutrition without degrading land resources through modeling cropping systems in the Ethiopian highlands
Food shortage in sub-Saharan Africa is generally considered a function of limited access to food, with little thought to nutritional quality. Analyzing household production of nutrients across farming systems could be valuable in guiding the improvement of those systems. An optimization model was em...
| Autores principales: | , , |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
2004
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/42553 |
| _version_ | 1855526883356049408 |
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| author | Amede, Tilahun Stroud, Ann Aune, JB |
| author_browse | Amede, Tilahun Aune, JB Stroud, Ann |
| author_facet | Amede, Tilahun Stroud, Ann Aune, JB |
| author_sort | Amede, Tilahun |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Food shortage in sub-Saharan Africa is generally considered a function of limited access to food, with little thought to nutritional quality. Analyzing household production of nutrients across farming systems could be valuable in guiding the improvement of those systems. An optimization model was employed to analyze the scenario of human nutrition and cropland allocation in enset (Enset ventricosum)/root crop-based and cereal-based systems of the Ethiopian Highlands. The type and amount of nutrients produced in each system were analyzed, and an optimization model was used to analyze which cropping strategies might improve the nutritional quality of the household using existing resources. Both production systems were in food deficit, in terms of quantity and quality of nutrients, except for iron. The energy supply of resource-poor households in the enset/root crop-based system was only 75% of the recommended daily dietary allowance (RDA) of the World Health Organization (WHO), whereas resource-rich farmers were able to meet their energy, protein, zinc, and thiamine demands. Extremely high deficiency was found in zinc, calcium, vitamin A, and vitamin C, which provided only 26.5%, 34%, 1.78%, and 12%, of the RDA, respectively. The RDA could be satisfied if the land area occupied by enset, kale, and beans were expanded by about 20%, 10%, and 40%, respectively, at the expense of maize and sweet potato. The cereal-based system also had critical nutrient deficits in calcium, vitamin A, and vitamin C, which provided 30%, 2.5%, and 2% of the RDA, respectively. In the cereal system, the RDA could be fully satisfied by reducing cropland allocated to barley by about 50% and expanding the land area occupied by faba beans, kale, and enset. A shift from the cereal/root crop-dominated system to a perennial-enset dominated system would decrease soil erosion by improving the crop factor by about 45%. This shift would also have a very strong positive impact on soil fertility management. However, any policy suggestions for change in cropland allocation should be done through negotiations with households, communities, and district stakeholders. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace42553 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2004 |
| publishDateRange | 2004 |
| publishDateSort | 2004 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace425532025-11-12T05:55:46Z Advancing human nutrition without degrading land resources through modeling cropping systems in the Ethiopian highlands Amede, Tilahun Stroud, Ann Aune, JB human nutrition malnutrition food resources cropping systems optimization methods nutrición humana malnutrición recursos alimentarios sistemas de cultivo métodos de optimización etíopia africa al sur del sahara Food shortage in sub-Saharan Africa is generally considered a function of limited access to food, with little thought to nutritional quality. Analyzing household production of nutrients across farming systems could be valuable in guiding the improvement of those systems. An optimization model was employed to analyze the scenario of human nutrition and cropland allocation in enset (Enset ventricosum)/root crop-based and cereal-based systems of the Ethiopian Highlands. The type and amount of nutrients produced in each system were analyzed, and an optimization model was used to analyze which cropping strategies might improve the nutritional quality of the household using existing resources. Both production systems were in food deficit, in terms of quantity and quality of nutrients, except for iron. The energy supply of resource-poor households in the enset/root crop-based system was only 75% of the recommended daily dietary allowance (RDA) of the World Health Organization (WHO), whereas resource-rich farmers were able to meet their energy, protein, zinc, and thiamine demands. Extremely high deficiency was found in zinc, calcium, vitamin A, and vitamin C, which provided only 26.5%, 34%, 1.78%, and 12%, of the RDA, respectively. The RDA could be satisfied if the land area occupied by enset, kale, and beans were expanded by about 20%, 10%, and 40%, respectively, at the expense of maize and sweet potato. The cereal-based system also had critical nutrient deficits in calcium, vitamin A, and vitamin C, which provided 30%, 2.5%, and 2% of the RDA, respectively. In the cereal system, the RDA could be fully satisfied by reducing cropland allocated to barley by about 50% and expanding the land area occupied by faba beans, kale, and enset. A shift from the cereal/root crop-dominated system to a perennial-enset dominated system would decrease soil erosion by improving the crop factor by about 45%. This shift would also have a very strong positive impact on soil fertility management. However, any policy suggestions for change in cropland allocation should be done through negotiations with households, communities, and district stakeholders. 2004 2014-09-24T07:58:11Z 2014-09-24T07:58:11Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/42553 en Open Access application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | human nutrition malnutrition food resources cropping systems optimization methods nutrición humana malnutrición recursos alimentarios sistemas de cultivo métodos de optimización etíopia africa al sur del sahara Amede, Tilahun Stroud, Ann Aune, JB Advancing human nutrition without degrading land resources through modeling cropping systems in the Ethiopian highlands |
| title | Advancing human nutrition without degrading land resources through modeling cropping systems in the Ethiopian highlands |
| title_full | Advancing human nutrition without degrading land resources through modeling cropping systems in the Ethiopian highlands |
| title_fullStr | Advancing human nutrition without degrading land resources through modeling cropping systems in the Ethiopian highlands |
| title_full_unstemmed | Advancing human nutrition without degrading land resources through modeling cropping systems in the Ethiopian highlands |
| title_short | Advancing human nutrition without degrading land resources through modeling cropping systems in the Ethiopian highlands |
| title_sort | advancing human nutrition without degrading land resources through modeling cropping systems in the ethiopian highlands |
| topic | human nutrition malnutrition food resources cropping systems optimization methods nutrición humana malnutrición recursos alimentarios sistemas de cultivo métodos de optimización etíopia africa al sur del sahara |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/42553 |
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