Tropentag, October 5 - 7, 2004 in Berlin "Rural Poverty Reduction through Research for Development and Transformation"

Poverty, Food Systems and Nutritional Well-being of Children in North West Syria

¹International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Natural Resource Management Program, Syria
²University of Massachusetts, Department of Nutrition, United States of America

Abstract

Linkages between child nutrition, the food system and socio-economic status in households dependent on different forms of agriculture were traced in a study conducted in North West Syria. Two areas of study were identified and three livelihood groups were selected. These were the barley/livestock/wage labour; the olive/fruit tree and irrigation groups. Five villages were surveyed and households with children under 10 years of age were recruited (n=207 households, 740 children). Informal interviews, seasonal calendars, key informant socio-economic characterisation, food frequency questionnaires and health questionnaires were conducted. Child height and weight data were collected in all groups and in a reference group from a middle class Aleppo city neighbourhood. Z-scores were calculated and independent sample t-tests and One Way ANOVA were conducted. Stunting was highest in the barley–livestock group (23%, p<0,05) and lowest in the irrigation group (12,5%), girls in the barley–livestock group had the highest rates (28,3%), followed by the boys (22%) and the girls (21,08%) in the olive/fruit tree group. Underweight prevalence was highest in the barley–livestock and olive/fruit tree groups (14,29% and 13,25%). At the dietary level, the barley/livestock group had the highest mean monthly seasonal food frequencies for cereal and cereal products and lowest frequencies for animal protein foods. Differences were observed in socio-economic status across three livelihood groups. Barley/livestock and the olive/fruit tree group reported the highest percent of poor households (60%). In contrast the irrigation group reported more than 50% of the households in a middle class category. In the barley livestock village, total land, number of sheep and sheep fattening increased with improvements in well-being category and seasonal wage labour was an important source of income for the two lower categories. The barley/livestock group had the poorest indicators of child growth, household food availability and socio-economic status. Marginal environments and poor access to resources are possible causative factors. The paper makes recommendations for addressing the nutritional deficiencies of these dryland marginal areas.

Keywords: Agriculture, food frequency, nutrition, poverty, socio-economic status, stunting, Syria, underweight

Contact Address: Shibani Ghosh, International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Natural Resource Management Program, P.O. Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria, e-mail: s.ghoshcgiar.org