Research Support
SPIRITS

Food and Nutrition Security for Semi-arid Tropical Region

Project Gist

Climate Resilient Agricultural Systems and Livelihoods for Food and Nutrition Security.

Keywords

Climate Variability, Food System, Nutrition, Food Security, Africa

Background and Purpose

With increasing concerns on climate variability globally, measures for food and nutrition security are rapidly gaining attention by the international community in face of future climate change. Especially for farmers whose livelihoods depend critically on rain-fed agriculture, crop failure due to climate variability is likely to cause seasonal food shortage and undernutrition among infants and children under 5, thus affecting long-term development of human resources. This research tries to provide policies by considering the climate resilient food production and consumption systems for enhancing food and nutrition security in semi-arid tropical Africa.

Project Achievements

We confirmed that sorghum is quite climate resilient in face of drought when other crops fail and thus effective as an alternative crop against environmental variability. Also diet diversity is fluctuating seasonally and different among agro-ecological conditions. We co-organized a workshop with Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI) and built new research networks and collaboration for food and nutrition security. We participated in arranging MOU between University of Zambia and Kyoto University. Young researchers who participated in the project contributed significantly by organizing the workshop and also introducing an advanced and effective technique technique for household survey using tablets.

Future Prospects

In developing counties, seasonal variability of the food consumption, its mechanism, contributing factors, strategies to smoothing fluctuations require further research. Effective research design, data collection and analytical methods for food and nutrition security should be considered for policy analysis through international collaborative research.

Figure

Local assistants check sorghum grain maturity at the experimental field (2018/19 cropping season)
Villagers who received sorghum seed in November 2019
Participants at SPIRITS Lusaka Workshop in August 2019

Joint Research/Academic Institutions Abroad

Zambia Agriculture Research Institute

Principal Investigator

UMETSU Chieko

・UMETSU Chieko
・Graduate School of Agriculture
・She is agricultural and resource economist. Former project leader of “Vulnerability and Resilience of Social-Ecological Systems” at the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature before she moved to Kyoto University in 2016. She started her career as a math and science teacher at the secondary school in rural Kenya.