Food intake and dietary diversity of farming households in Morogoro region, Tanzania

Abstract

The Tanzanian economy depends heavily on agriculture and hence human labor provides much of the power needed for farming activities. This study was carried out to determine the diversity and dietary adequacy of farming households in four selected districts of Morogoro region in Tanzania. Adult household members from 140 households participated in the study. A 24-hour dietary recall, dietary diversity score and frequency of food consumption tools were used to assess and quantify nutrient intake and adequacy of consumed diets in farming households. Tanzania food composition tables were used to compute estimates of the energy intake, macro and micronutrients consumed by farming households. Analysis was done using SPSS version 18 and Microsoft excel version 10. Cereal food group was consumed in relatively large quantities compared to other food groups in the surveyed households. The contribution of cereal group to energy intake was 75-82%, protein 8-16% and fat 9-14%. Stiff porridge made of maize flour was the mostly consumed cereal dish followed by rice. The mean intake of energy per day was inadequate; the intake of energy for men was 1402 kcal/day while for female was 1347 kcal/day meeting only 52% and 72%, respectively of the recommended energy intake. Generally, the consumption of protein from the animal sources was significantly low in all districts. Ninety-nine percent of the households rarely consumed eggs; 83% rarely consumed meat and poultry. Consumption of milk and milk products was inadequate as 92% of the households indicated that they rarely consumed these products. The intake of fat was also low by 53% compared to the recommended intake for adults. The intake of iron, zinc, and calcium was 40, 53 and 64%, respectively, which was not sufficient to meet daily requirements. Low intake of nutrients was generally attributed to inadequate food intake due to low feeding frequency, poorly diversified diets and suboptimal practices in food preparation and cooking. The results from surveyed areas indicated that all districts are rich in terms of bio-diversity and food availability, nevertheless the consumption of these foods in the study communities was inadequate with regards to quantity and quality. This situation compromises nutritional status and pre-disposes farming households to diseases and infections hence affects work output, labor productivity and wealth generation. Educating farmers on the importance of consuming diversified and adequate diets from different food groups will improve their nutrition situation and stimulate more production hence increased agricultural productivity.

Use of filtrate from crop residue ash for cooking in rural households in Northern Uganda.

“…Similarly, Onwuka & Okala (2003) showed a decrease in required cooking time of 13 minutes for cowpeas and 24 minutes for African yam beans (Sphenostylis sternocarpa) at a concentration of 0.6 g/L. Most recently, it was found that cooking time for beans could be reduced by as much as 60 minutes with the addition of 20 g of ground salt to water fo r 0.5 kg of beans (Mamiro et al 2011). It appears that increasing the concentration of indigenous salt has a substantial effect on decreasing cooking time.…”

“…Plants or individual plant parts were burned for their ash, which was then added to food directly as ash, or used as a filtrate produced from the ash. This practice is still occurring in Uganda, and purportedly in several other African countries, Oceania, and South America (Ohtsuka et al 1987;Kaputo 1996;Sharland 1997;Onwuka & Okala 2003;Wanjekeche et al 2003;Mamiro et al 2011;TICAH 2011). Despite situational differences in materials and methods between countries and regions, it appears that there are common cultural reasons behind the use of traditional additives, such as flavouring and to hasten cooking (Kaputo 1996;Wanjekeche et al 2003).…”

“…The name varies with location however, and so in this thesis it will be called 'ground' salt. Mineralogical, chemical, and physical properties of ground salt differ slightly among studies; however, it is generally acknowledged that all contain the mineral 'trona', a hydrated sesquicarbonate of sodium, making it highly alkaline (Makanjuola & Beetlestone 1975;Nielsen & Dahi 2002;Mamiro et al 2011). …”

“…Various plant ash samples contain elevated levels of sodium, potassium and other elements, and are highly alkaline in nature (Calloway, Giauque, & Costa, 1974;Kuhnlein 1980;Ohtsuka, Suzuki, & Morita, 1987;Kaputo 1996;Wanjekeche, Wakasa, & Mureithi, 2003;Mamiro et al 2011). Cooking time of dried beans is reduced by addition of sodium to cooking water (Varriano-Marston & de Omana 1979;Van Buren 1986), as well as by increased alkalinity (Ankrah & Dovlo 1978;Uzogara etal.…”

“…Other authors have examined the use of this practice in Africa (Huntingford 1955;Whitby 1972;Onwuka and Okala 2003), studied the effect of ash or ash filtrate use on cooking time (Wanjekeche et al 2003;Mamiro et al 2011) and sensory properties (Wanjekeche et al 2003), and analyzed the elemental composition of plant ash (Kuhnlein 1980;Kaputo 1996;Mamiro etal. 2011).…”