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Food and nutrition security interventions have struggled to supply sustainable protein-rich animal source foods in refugee camps due to high costs required and limited resources. Therefore, crickets farming was extended to refugee settings in Kenya as a potential source of protein and income. This paper discusses how cricket farming was introduced in Kakuma refugee camp and the utilization of crickets as food or feed. A thriving cricket colony was established in a site managed by DanChurchAid (DCA) in Kakuma refugee camp. The cricket colony was used to produce and supply cricket eggs to recruited and trained households who belonged to seven different nationalities. The project beneficiaries were selected using purposive sampling based on a set of predefined characteristics. Each household was provided with a cricket-rearing starter kit consisting of wooden pens, hides (carton egg trays), pin-head crickets, feed and water dispenser (cotton wool). Each household harvested 0.5 – 3.0 kg of fresh cricket per cycle of 1–2 months which was used as food (55.65%) or feed (44.35%). The crickets were processed by either sun drying, blanching or frying. The most dominant processing method was the combination of sun drying and frying that constituted 52.17% of the total processing. There was a significant correlation (P < 0.001) between intended use of crickets and processing methods. The crickets harvested had the potential to constitute > 30% of the recommended daily intake of protein and other micronutrients for women and children of different ages. Crickets showed a huge potential in mitigating food and nutrition insecurity in the camp although further efforts are required to strengthen the crickets value chain as food or feed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social capital develops through relations between people and groups within community social networks. Women in smallholder agrarian communities often draw on social capital to influence their intra-household bargaining positions, with significant implications for their resource access. However, the extent to which women use different types of social capital to increase their participation in agricultural decision-making remain understudied. This research examines the relationships between women's participation in agricultural decision-making and bonding, bridging, and linking social capital and how broader contextual factors can interact with the pathways through which social capital functions in rural semi-arid Kenya. In 2014, we collected and analyzed quantitative and qualitative data: household (N = 206) and community (n = 127) surveys, key informant interviews (n = 77), twelve focus group discussions, and eight community meetings. Results indicate that women draw on bridging social capital to increase the diversity of their information and training sources. We found that women's participation in decision-making has a positive association with bonding social capital and a negative association with linking social capital. Multilevel analysis reveals cross-scale interactions between poverty prevalence and social capital on women's decision-making participation. Findings suggest that advances in regional development have the potential to amplify the stock and usage of social capital for women's empowerment in smallholder agrarian systems. • Social capital dimensions have positive and negative associations with women's participation in farm decision-making. • Divisional poverty levels mediate associations between social capital and women's decision-making across scales. • Divisional education attainment is more strongly associated with women's decision-making than individual attainment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil, inputs, and environmental factors such as weather control plant nutrient availability and nutrient content in food. Drought periods affect nutrient bioavailability. Nutrient transport within the plant and allocation of nutrients within organs of the plant is water dependent and therefore drought susceptible. This study compared Kapchorwa, Uganda and Teso South, Kenya that experienced drought during the second season in 2016. The main research questions were: (i) do droughts have an impact on the nutrient composition of food; (ii) is there a difference in nutrient concentrations in food based on their xylem or phloem mobility? Maize (Zea mays) grain (n = 62) and matooke (Musa acuminata) fruit samples (n = 90) in Kapchorwa, and maize grain (n = 61) and cassava (Manihot esculenta) tuber (n = 64) in Teso South were collected during a normal season (March-July) and drought season (October-December) in 2016. Crop samples were analysed using a pXRF for P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Fe, Mn, Cu, and Zn. The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) was calculated using TAMSAT database to compare drought intensities. The drought in Kapchorwa (SPI: -1.14 to -0.32) was severer and began 2 months prior to Teso South (SPI: 0.09 to 0.55). Nutrient concentration in Kapchorwa decreased significantly from normal to drought in both crops. In contrast, during the moderate drought in Teso South, nutrient concentrations increased significantly. Lacking nutrient phloem mobility is suggested to play a vital role in mobilisation of micronutrients (Fe, Mn, and Cu) as shown by their decreased concentration under severe drought in the yield. Total nutrients assimilated in crop samples were significantly higher in the normal than the drought for almost all samples. Micronutrients and yields during drought were strongly affected, leading to a double-burden for consumers through affected quantity and quality. Future research considerations should particularly include the focus on potential nutrient increases during mild drought., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region in the world where hunger is prevalent in over one-third of the population, with smallholder farming households, producers of over 80% of Africa's food, facing both calorie and micronutrient deficiencies. With agricultural systems serving as the main source of all nutrients, little is known about the extent to which agricultural diversity in different seasons can meet macro- and micronutrient needs in rural Africa., Objective: Linkages between nutrient diversity and food species were investigated., Methods: A case study was conducted in Western Kenya to assess the seasonal nutrient diversity, seasonal nutrient accessibility levels, and food perceptions in 30 smallholder farms, 7 markets, and among 97 focus group discussion participants, respectively. All present food plant and animal species were inventoried and assigned to 1 of the 7 major Food and Agriculture Organization-defined food groups. Based on 2 macronutrients and 5 micronutrients, dendrogram-based nutrient functional diversity metrics were calculated., Results: On-farm and market food species offered all 7 macro- and micronutrients under investigation, regardless of seasonal variation in species numbers. Although there were varying seasonal nutrient accessibility levels in markets, farms were especially effective in readily availing 4 of the 7 nutrients. However, the main food shortage months coincided only with maize shortage, but a diversity of local foods, deemed to be of low cultural and culinary preferences, were available., Conclusions: Nutrition education on the importance of a diversity of local foods in meeting dietary needs, thus stimulating the demand side, can contribute to achieving year-round household food security.

Presently, close to 1 billion people suffer from hunger and food insecurity. Statistics in Kenya indicates that over 10 million people suffer from chronic food insecurity and poor nutrition, 2-4 million people require emergency food assistance at any given time with nearly 30 % of Kenya's children being undernourished, 35 % stunted while micro-nutrient deficiency is wide spread. Key among the challenges contributing to inadequate foods include lack of certified seeds, seasonal production (rain-fed), high post-harvest losses and wastages, poor transportation, low value additions which reduce their market competitiveness. The present paper examines some of the underlying causes for high food wastage experience in Kenya and the associated challenges in addressing these problems. The paper also provides an overview of some of the basic solutions that have been recommended by various stakeholders. However, in spite of the recent efforts made to mitigate food wastage, there is still an urgent need to address these gaps through participatory, innovative community based interventions that will create resilience to climate change and enhance livelihoods of smallholder farmers in diverse ecosystems.