On the Link between Production Diversity and Dietary Quality in Smallholder Farm Households

Undernutrition, low dietary diversity, and micronutrient deficiencies remain big problems in many developing countries. A large proportion of the people affected are smallholder farmers. Against this background, it is often assumed that further diversifying small-farm production could be a good strategy to improve dietary diversity and nutrition. But is there really such a clear link between production diversity on the farm and dietary diversity in the farm household? Here, we discuss key factors that influence this relationship and review recent empirical studies from various developing countries. We also discuss how the use of different indicators of production diversity and dietary diversity may possibly affect the results. The studies reviewed suggest that farm production diversity is positively associated with dietary diversity in some situations, but not in all. Especially when production diversity is already high, the association is not significant, or it can even turn negative when diverse production entails lower cash incomes due to foregone benefits from specialization. Where positive associations are observed, the magnitude is relatively small. Across the different countries, markets are more important for dietary diversity than subsistence production. These results are robust to changes in the diversity indicators used. In conclusion, further farm diversification may be useful in specific situations, but should not be seen as a generally applicable strategy to improve diets and nutrition in the small-farm sector. Improving market access for smallholder farms seems to be much more effective in general.