The Consequences of Seasonal Food Insecurity for Individual Food-Consumption Patterns in North-Western Benin

Abstract

Qualitative and quantitative dietary patterns were studied as indicators of seasonal changes in household food security in north-western Benin. These studies were carried out at both the individual level (women) and the intra-household level (husbands, wives, children 2–5 years old). Dietary changes between the intermediate period (April) and the pro-harvest period (August) included increased consumption of pulses and tubers, which compensated for a decrease in cereal consumption, and increased consumption of gifts, purchased foods, and wild foods as distinguished from foods from the household's own production. The adequacy of children's energy and protein intakes increased in the pre-harvest season, whereas those of the parents decreased Children and adults had same patterns with regard to the contribution of different food groups, except that children ate more pulses and less tubers than their parents in the pre-harvest season.