Impact On Nutrition And Nutrition

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Increased malnutrition is caused by poor diversification of diets such as relying too much on starchy staples. Thus, the consumption of a variety of foods is important for positive health. Malnutrition can be reduced by the consumption of diets having animal sources, vitamin-rich fruits and vegetables as well as nutrient-rich legumes (Arimond and Ruel, 2004; Thompson and Amoroso, 2011). According to the FAO, IFAD and WFP, (2015) about 800 million people do not have sufficient access to calories. A low intake of vitamins and minerals causes about 2 billion people all over the world to suffer from micronutrient malnutrition (IFPRI, 2014). Nutritional deficiencies result in impaired physical and mental development of humans, loss of productivity, susceptibility to various diseases among others (Lim et al, 2012). They are caused not only by low quantities of food consumed but also by poor dietary diversity; as dietary diversity is a good indicator of broader nutritional status. More diverse diets are associated with lower rates of nutritional problems in many parts of the world (Popkin and Slining, 2013). As a result, to improve nutrition and health, it is important to increase dietary diversity.
It has been noted that in Africa and Asia, majority of malnourished people are rural dwellers who are smallholder farmers (Pinstrup-Andersen, 2007). To improve their nutrition, production diversification of their small farms is relevant (Remans et al, 2011; Powell et al, 2015; Jones et

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