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Food Consumption Score: Daily Nutrient Needs
In 2019/20, AGRIBANKS LTD conducted a pilot study titled “An Assessment Of Income, Food Consumption Score, And Food Security Status Of Households Engaged In Farming in Mayuge District”. The study measured food security status among households using daily food intake. Also known as FCS-NA as a unit for measuring daily food consumption scores among households. The study found that the majority 83% of households sometimes consume protein-rich food in a week, followed by 2% of households who consume protein-rich food daily, and the lowest 15% of households who never ate either vitamin A, or hem iron, or protein, and they have poor consumption rate. The findings show that households in Uganda have either borderline or adequate consumption of vitamin A, Hem iron, and protein-rich foods.
A study by AGRIBANKS LTD is in consonant with some of the previous studies. For example, in 2015, the United Nations World Food Programme conducted a “Food Consumption Score Nutritional (FCS-N) Analysis” by food consumption clusters. This study shows that a significant percentage of households with adequate food consumption are experiencing risk of nutrient deficiencies in protein, hem iron, and vitamin A among others. This indicates a risk of chronic undernutrition in Uganda. In the same year, UNICEF and WFP conducted a similar study titled “Food Security & Nutrition Assessment” in the Karamoja sub-region and found that 45 percent of households in the region are food insecure, with poor performance on significant food security indicators. For instance, 50 percent of households have either poor or borderline FCS, signifying the low capacity of the big population to meet their daily nutrient needs.
We, therefore, conclude that the majority population in Uganda is not consuming the required foods rich in daily nutrients like vitamin A, Protein, and Hem iron-rich foods, etc. As such, this shows higher rates of chronic micronutrient deficiencies and undernutrition in Uganda. It is also interesting to find that household farmers in Uganda grow more of a specific food crop than they can consume that particular type of food and this shows that Uganda is food insecure.
References
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2011). FAO. Guidelines for measuring household and individual dietary diversity. Retrieved from fao.org/: https://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/wa_workshop/docs/FAO-guidelines-dietary-diversity2011.pdf
UNICEF, & United Nations World Food Programme. (2015, June). Food Security & Nutrition. Retrieved from karamojaresilience.org/: https://karamojaresilience.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/food_security_and_nutrition_assessment_karamoja_region_june_2015.pdf
United Nations World Food Programme. (2015, November 20). WFP. Food Consumption Score Nutritional Quality Analysis (FCS-N) – Technical Guidance Note. Retrieved from www.wfp.org/: https://www.wfp.org/publications/food-consumption-score-nutritional-quality-analysis-fcs-n-technical-guidance-note