DOI: 10.5061/dryad.pq37vn6
title: Data from: Food and nutrient gaps in rural Northern Ghana: does production of smallholder farming households support adoption of food-based dietary guidelines?

description: Food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) provide guidance to policy makers,
 the private sector and consumers to redesign food systems and to improve
 diets of vulnerable populations. As appropriate FBDGs are based on the
 actual dietary patterns and their costs, it is assumed that the
 recommended foods are available, affordable and acceptable for the
 population under study. Using quantitative dietary intake data of young
 children in rural Northern Ghana, we developed local FBDGs and studied
 whether these are supported by the diversity and quantity of the
 production of a household among 329 households. We found that 40% of rural
 Northern Ghanaian infants and young children were stunted and their
 nutrient intakes were far below the recommendations: the probability of
 adequacy for most nutrient intakes was less than 50%. At household level,
 the developed FBDGs were, on average, unable to sufficiently cover the
 household requirements for fat (60.4% of recommended nutrient intake
 (RNI)), calcium (34.3% RNI), iron (60.3% RNI), vitamin A (39.1% RNI),
 vitamin B12 (2.3% RNI) and vitamin C (54.6% RNI). This implies that even
 when these FBDGs are fully adopted the requirements for these nutrients
 will not be met. In addition, the nutrient needs and food needs (according
 to the developed FBDGs) of a household were only marginally covered by
 their own food production. The food production of over half the households
 supplied insufficient calcium (75.7%), vitamin A (100%), vitamin B12
 (100%) and vitamin C (77.5%) to cover their needs. The food production of
 about 60% of the households did not cover their required quantities of
 grains and legumes and none covered their required quantities of
 vegetables. Further analysis of the food gaps at district and national
 level showed that sufficient grains were available at both levels (267%
 and 148%, respectively) to meet requirements; availability of legumes was
 sufficient at district level (268%) but not at national level (52%); and
 vegetables were insufficient at both levels (2% and 49%, respectively).
 Diversifying household food production is often proposed as a means to
 increase the diversity of foods available and thereby increasing dietary
 diversity of rural populations. We found that the diversity of the
 production of a household was indeed positively related with their food
 and nutrient coverage. However, the diversity of the production of a
 household and their food and nutrient coverage were not related with
 children’s dietary diversity and nutrient adequacy. Our results show that
 the production of a households does not support the adoption of FBDGs in
 rural Northern Ghana, especially for vegetables. This suggests that the
 promotion of FBDGs through nutrition education or behaviour change
 communications activities alone is insufficient to lead to improvements in
 diets. Additional strategies are needed to increase the food availability
 and accessibility of the households, especially that of fruits and
 vegetables, such as diversification of the crops grown, increased
 production of specific crops and market-based strategies.
description: Household roster
 dataDemographics and social
 economic information of each household member (limited information is
 included due to limitation of 3 indirect indentifiers per subject, if more
 information is needed please contact corresponding
 author)2.
 North_Household roster.savHousehold
 assetsReported household
 assets3.
 North_Assets.savFarn
 sizeTotal farm size and
 cropped farm land4. North_Farm
 sizes_basis.savHousehold yearly crop
 production in kgHousehold yearly crop
 production in kg5. North_Crop
 Production_kg.savDistance and visits to
 marketsDistance and visits to
 markets6.
 North_Household
 markets_basis.savGeneral diet related
 information of index childGeneral diet related
 information of index child7. Indexchild feeding
 info_North.savChildren's 24hour
 recall dietary intake data and calculated IDDSChildren's 24hour
 recall dietary intake data and calculated IDDS8.
 North_24hR_TotalFile_foodcodes_foodgroups_IDDS.savAnthropometry dataAnthropometry data (no more than 3 indirect indentifiers per subject are allowed to publish, sex is not included, if this data is needed please contact corresponding author)11. Northern_Anthro_basis.sav