“I started working because I was hungry”: The consequences of food insecurity for children's well-being in rural Ethiopia

Abstract

Food insecurity, the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of safe, nutritious food, is a persistent problem in rural Ethiopia. However, little qualitative research has explored how food insecurity affects children over time, from their point of view. What are the effects of economic 'shocks' such as illness, death, loss of livestock, drought and inflation on availability of food, and children's well-being? To what extent do social protection schemes (in this case, the Productive Safety Net Programme) mitigate the long-term effects of food insecurity for children? The paper uses a life-course approach, drawing on analysis of four rounds of qualitative longitudinal research conducted in 2007, 2008, 2011 and 2014, with eight case study children, as part of Young Lives, an ongoing cohort study. Children's descriptions of the importance of food and a varied diet (dietary diversity) in everyday life were expressed in a range of qualitative methods, including interviews, group discussions and creative methods. The paper suggests that while the overall picture of food security in Ethiopia has improved in the past decade, for the poorest rural families, food insecurity remains a major factor influencing decisions about a range of matters - children's time allocation, whether to continue in school, whether to migrate for work, and whether they marry. The paper argues that experiences of food insecurity need to be understood holistically, in relation to other aspects of children's lives, at differing stages of the life-course during childhood. The paper concludes that nutritional support beyond early childhood needs to be a focus of policy and programming.

Correlates of leisure-time sedentary behavior among 181,793 adolescents aged 12-15 years from 66 low- and middle-income countries

“…Also at the personal level of the socio-ecological model of sedentary behavior [11], food insecurity was inversely associated with LTSB. Although the exact mechanisms underlying this finding are also here unclear, it is possible that adolescents in food insecure households need to assist their parents after school hours in income generating activities [30]), resulting in a negative relationship.…”

The contribution of qualitative research within the PRECISE study in sub-Saharan Africa

“…While we could not find evidence of any qualitative research linked with the large multi-country cohorts cited above, with the exception of the Brazilian and South African contributors to COHORTS [10][11][12][13][14][15], several smaller or single-country studies have had at least one associated qualitative component [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. Many of these can be considered mixed methods studies, defined as studies which combine both qualitative and quantitative approaches and involve a degree of mixing or integrating of the two, at one or more stages of the study (such as planning, data collection, analysis or interpretation).…”

Tracing the Consequences of Child Poverty

“…Long-term deficiencies may be due to a mix of household and caregiver determinants, such as poverty, livelihood insecurity or low maternal education, alongside community-wide factors, chiefly poorquality sanitation, hygiene and water, and high food prices. Having young children in the household may also be a factor that contributes to food insecurity, since these children cannot contribute labour to the household or provide for themselves (Morrow et al, 2017). Families often adopt strategies to ensure that their children are fed during times of food insecurity that can, in turn, have unintended adverse effects on nutrition.…”