Effects of season on household food security and the nutritional status of smallholder rural households in Nakuru District, Kenya

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Title:	Effects of season on household food security and the nutritional status of smallholder rural households in Nakuru District, Kenya
Author:	Kigutha, Hilda N.
Year:	1995
Issue:	55
Pages:	71
Language:	English
Series:	FNSP Report
City of publisher:	Leiden
Publisher:	African Studies Centre
Geographic term:	Kenya
Subjects:	food policy seasonality nutrition rural households food
External link:	https://hdl.handle.net/1887/495
Abstract:	This study investigates the effects of a unimodal climatic pattern on household food availability among rural households with limited landholdings and low cash incomes, and how this in turn affects food consumption and the nutritional status of the nutritionally vulnerable household members, namely preschool children, lactating women and the elderly. Research was carried out over a 15-month period in 1992/1993 among 94 households in Nakuru district, Rift Valley Province, Kenya. The results show that most of the smallholder rural households in the unimodal climatic areas of Kenya may be food insecure as they do not produce adequate amounts of food to last them from one harvest to the next. This is mainly due to such factors as limited landholdings, seasonality in rainfall patterns and large families. Recommendations for improving this situation conclude the study.