Dietary species richness as a measure of food biodiversity and nutritional quality of diets

Biodiversity is key for human and environmental health. Available dietary and ecological indicators are not designed to assess the intricate relationship between food biodiversity and diet quality. We applied biodiversity indicators to dietary intake data from and assessed associations with diet quality of women and young children. Data from 24-hour diet recalls (55% in the wet season) of n = 6,226 participants (34% women) in rural areas from seven low- and middle-income countries were analyzed. Mean adequacies of vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, calcium, iron, and zinc and diet diversity score (DDS) were used to assess diet quality. Associations of biodiversity indicators with nutrient adequacy were quantified using multilevel models, receiver operating characteristic curves, and test sensitivity and specificity. A total of 234 different species were consumed, of which <30% were consumed in more than one country. Nine species were consumed in all countries and provided, on average, 61% of total energy intake and a significant contribution of micronutrients in the wet season. Compared with Simpson’s index of diversity and functional diversity, species richness (SR) showed stronger associations and better diagnostic properties with micronutrient adequacy. For every additional species consumed, dietary nutrient adequacy increased by 0.03 (P < 0.001). Diets with higher nutrient adequacy were mostly obtained when both SR and DDS were maximal. Adding SR to the minimum cutoff for minimum diet diversity improved the ability to detect diets with higher micronutrient adequacy in women but not in children. Dietary SR is recommended as the most appropriate measure of food biodiversity in diets

Biodiversity and dietary diversity in Vihiga Kenya

The objective of the study was to assess contribution of local agrobiodiversity to the diet and assess diet diversity in Vihiga County, Western Kenya // the dataset also serves as baseline survey in a 3 year project on participatory development of interventions to diversify diets in Vihiga. Dietary assessment was conducted using two non-consecutive 24 hour recalls from 1580 women and children in plenty and lean seasons. Household measures, monetary values, direct weighing, or clay moulding were used to assess portion sizes. We also estimated quantities of foods in form of fluids using volume estimations. Food compostion tables used were the following: Tanzanian food composition (Lukmanji et al., 2008) complemented with information from the USDA food composition table (USDA, 2014), the Kenyan food composition table (Sehmi, 1993) and the West African food composition table (Stadlmayr et al., 2012). Nutrients composition of raw ingredients was converted into cooked ones using the USDA Table for Nutrient Retention Factors (2007). Species Identification was done at the East African Herbarium, Botany department of National of Museums of Kenya for missing or unknown species

Power, Prejudice and Transitional Constitution-Making in Kenya: The Gender of Law and Religious Politics in Reproductive Choice

Kenya has borne memories and scars of colonial hegemonies, repressive and kleptocratic post-independence regimes, and bitter ethnic politicization of inequality, poverty, land issues and exclusion resulting in intermittent strife and volatile politics. Concomitantly, efforts to constitutionally reform and uphold rights and freedoms, especially for more vulnerable groups such as women, have been undertaken unsuccessfully. The 2007 post-election violence created the ultimate conditions for undertaking transitional justice, including reviving a constitutional process that was inclusive, enhanced equality and was effective for achieving sustainable peace, stability and justice in Kenya. Such conditions also allowed Kenya’s strong and very vocal human and women’s rights movements to negotiate aspects critical to their causes and play an important role in the successful 2010 constitutional referendum