HOUSEHOLD FOOD CONSUMPTION IN THE RURAL COMMUNE AMBATOMANGA-MADAGASCAR

Biological anthropology

The study objective is to find out the dietary diversity and caloric needs of the two areas. Almost all households have a diet composed of at least four types of food during the period of abundance, A comparative food consumption survey of 463 households was carried out in the five Fokontany of the Rural Commune of Ambatomanga, District of Manjakandrina between the periods of abundance and lean season in 2018. More precisely, our study site was formed by Area A including the FokontanyAmbatomanga Chef -lieu of the Commune and Area B composed of the four other peripheral Fokontany. The frequency survey and 24-hour recall were used to analyse food consumption. The Student's t-test was used to determine whether there was a statistically significant difference between the average Food Consumption Scores (FCS) of the two localities. respectively 63.26% for Area A and 79.05% for Area B, compared to 33.85% and 39.39% during the lean period. Thus, household food consumption in Area B is more diversified than in Area A. Household food consumption in both Areas is unsatisfactory during the lean season, with an average score of 2.75 indicating that their diet is acceptable, including2.64 in Area A and 2.89 in Area B. During the lean season, the average household food consumption scores reflect a very poor diet: 1.82 in Area A and 0.97 in Area B. Caloric needs are deficient during the same period in both localities: -13.52% and -10.71%. Thus, food consumption is precarious and unbalanced and not very diversified in our sites. Poor food habits, low agricultural production, unstable sources of income, the occupation of mothers and the lack of nutritional education are the causes identified by our surveys. This poor state of food consumption in our study areas is one of the problems hindering sustainable development in the locality by making the population less active. Thus, it is recommended to diversify the diet of each household and eventually promote sustainable development projects related to agriculture and livestock, to develop the practice of market gardening in the two study sites to improve their dietary habits and to strengthen nutrition education within the Commune.

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