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Sustainability
Volume 13
Issue 18
10.3390/su131810325
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Article

Farm Production Diversification and Dietary Diversity among Subsistence Farming Households: Panel Data Evidence from South Africa

by
Sikhulumile Sinyolo
1,*,
Conrad Murendo
2,
Admire Mutsa Nyamwanza
3,
Sithembile Amanda Sinyolo
4,
Catherine Ndinda
3 and
Chijioke Osinachi Nwosu
3,5
1
Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
2
CARE International, Mutare 0263, Zimbabwe
3
Human Sciences Research Council, Cape Town 8001, South Africa
4
Agriculture Sector Education and Training Authority, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
5
Department of Economics and Finance, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein 9301, South Africa
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2021, 13(18), 10325; https://doi.org/10.3390/su131810325
Submission received: 18 August 2021 / Revised: 5 September 2021 / Accepted: 7 September 2021 / Published: 15 September 2021
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Abstract

Improving the production of a variety of foods by subsistence farmers has been identified as a key strategy for improving dietary diversity. However, there is limited evidence in South Africa on how one’s own production is linked to dietary diversity. This study relies on nationally representative panel data to investigate the extent to which farm production diversity is correlated with dietary diversity. The data indicated a moderate level of household dietary diversity that has been on a declining trend between 2008 and 2017. The farm households produced three food groups (meat, cereals, and vegetables), suggesting more reliance on food purchases than own production. The study found a positive relationship between own production diversification and dietary diversity and that dietary diversity varied by demographics and socio-economic characteristics of households. However, production diversity was not significantly associated with the consumption of micronutrient-rich foods such as fruits or vegetables. Higher levels of education, income per capita, food expenditure, and geographic location were some of the key drivers of dietary diversity among subsistence households. The findings suggest that encouraging subsistence farming households to produce various crop and animal species can be an effective strategy to improve dietary diversity among poor households in South Africa.
Keywords: dietary diversity; farm production diversity; subsistence farming; panel data; South Africa dietary diversity; farm production diversity; subsistence farming; panel data; South Africa

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MDPI and ACS Style

Sinyolo, S.; Murendo, C.; Nyamwanza, A.M.; Sinyolo, S.A.; Ndinda, C.; Nwosu, C.O. Farm Production Diversification and Dietary Diversity among Subsistence Farming Households: Panel Data Evidence from South Africa. Sustainability 2021, 13, 10325. https://doi.org/10.3390/su131810325

AMA Style

Sinyolo S, Murendo C, Nyamwanza AM, Sinyolo SA, Ndinda C, Nwosu CO. Farm Production Diversification and Dietary Diversity among Subsistence Farming Households: Panel Data Evidence from South Africa. Sustainability. 2021; 13(18):10325. https://doi.org/10.3390/su131810325

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sinyolo, Sikhulumile, Conrad Murendo, Admire Mutsa Nyamwanza, Sithembile Amanda Sinyolo, Catherine Ndinda, and Chijioke Osinachi Nwosu. 2021. "Farm Production Diversification and Dietary Diversity among Subsistence Farming Households: Panel Data Evidence from South Africa" Sustainability 13, no. 18: 10325. https://doi.org/10.3390/su131810325

APA Style

Sinyolo, S., Murendo, C., Nyamwanza, A. M., Sinyolo, S. A., Ndinda, C., & Nwosu, C. O. (2021). Farm Production Diversification and Dietary Diversity among Subsistence Farming Households: Panel Data Evidence from South Africa. Sustainability, 13(18), 10325. https://doi.org/10.3390/su131810325

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