Seasonal food insecurity in the Sahel: nutritional, social and economic risk among Bamana agriculturalists in Mali.
Adams, Alayne Mary;
(1992)
Seasonal food insecurity in the Sahel: nutritional, social and economic risk among Bamana agriculturalists in Mali.
PhD thesis, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17037/PUBS.00682230
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This thesis considers the nutritional, social and economic dimensions of seasona flood insecurity
in Mali from the conceptual viewpoint of risk. It incorporates both longitudinal and crosssectional
designs, and quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the strategies agriculturalists
employ to minimize risk, and the characteristics of the vulnerable.
Anthropometry, morbidity, adult energy expenditure, and household food consumption were
monitored over a 14 month period in a village sample of 33 households to test the hypothesis that
seasonal nutritional risk is experiencedd ifferentially by age and gender groups in the population.
Significant seasonal changes were detected in all nutritional indicators, but few which exceeded
threshold levels used to define risk.
At the household level the thesis examines the hypothesis that exogenous factors and endogenous
household characteristics combine to influence the range of strategies available to food insecure
households, and therefore, the degree of risk they experience. Cross-sectional data on seven
villages revealed striking interregional and interannual variations in the prevalence and severity
of household food insecurity which are strongly related to rainfall.
Household stratification according to the capacity to sustain a secure, adequate and viable diet
revealed the food secure to be large and wealthy households with sufficient resources to diversify
production, and to invest in agriculture and social networks of exchange. At the other extreme
were food insecure households which tend to be poor, small and dependent on the proceeds of
labour sales to breach the shortage period. Longitudinal study of food stock flows, labour
exchange, monetary expenditure and other transfers, demonstrated the continuing vitality of social
networks of exchange as means of spreading risk. Vulnerable households had less access to such
networks.