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Format:
Print
Author:
Pino, Marcela
Dept./Program:
Natural Resources
Year:
2014
Degree:
MS
Abstract:
Chronic, seasonal food insecurity is a regular event in coffee growing regions of Mexico and Central America. This yearly phenomenon is known in coffee countries by multiple names, such as water months, thin months, thin cows season and time of silence. The FAO has characterized chronic, seasonal food insecurity as a predictable known event of limited duration that can also be recurrent or transitory. The literature suggests that an important cause of seasonal hunger within coffee producing families is their dependency on the coffee crop for most oftheir income.
This research examined agrobiodiversity and livelihood factors contributing to coffee growing families' food insecurity in the Northern mountain regions of Nicaragua through a multidisciplinary approach. The Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA) was used as a methodological guideline to the research, accounting for household's assets, vulnerability context and livelihood strategies. A focus on household food security analyzed access to food and, in particular, dietary diversity as one of the aspects of utilization of food. In addition, a household's level of agrobiodiversity was analyzed based on data collected through a closed-ended survey that examined its effects on the food security of a household.
Findings confirmed that coffee dependency is one of the households' main vulnerabilities. Contributing factors include the cost of production, risk of growing requirements and international coffee price fluctuations. Research also confirms that households are experiencing food insecurity; specifically chronic seasonal hunger. This event forces families to eat less and less variety of foods for months at the time, year after year. In terms of access to food, the study found thatnchness of agrobiodiversity alone is not able to ensure families' food security, and families that manage more agrobiodiversity on their farms experience more months of food scarcity. The capacity of households to produce and properly store staple foods can also decrease the number of months of food scarcity. In addition, the research showed that families' dietary diversity is positively affected by the number of animals they manage, the number of animal products they produce, and the number of sources of income for the household. The size of the farm and the household's total income (on and off the farm) were found to be a determinant for both months of food insecurity and dietary diversity.