Fruit consumption and production: habits, preferences and attitudes of rural households in Western Kenya. By Gudrun B. Keding, Katja Kehlenbeck and Stepha McMullin

1. Fruit consumption and production: habits,
preferences and attitudes of rural households in
Western Kenya
Gudrun B. Keding1, Katja Kehlenbeck2 and Stepha McMullin2
1Bioversity International, Nutrition and Marketing Diversity Programme 2 World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Tree Diversity, Domestication and Delivery, Kenya
Introduction
Currently, fruit consumption in Eastern Africa is far below the
recommended daily amount (RDA)1 (400g of fruits and vegetables per
person and day2) and has implications for micronutrient malnutrition while
little is known about the patterns and determinants of fruit production,
consumption and marketing.
This study, therefore, collected data about key trends in gender-
disaggregated preferences, attitudes and decision-making processes of
rural households for fruit consumption, production, and income generated
from this activity.
Methodology
 A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 370 households in
July/August 2013 in five different agro-ecological zones (AEZ) along a
transect of humidity in Western Kenya.
 Households were sampled randomly from household lists in 15 villages
distributed evenly across the AEZ.
 Individual interviews were conducted with the women responsible for
food and nutrition in the household. Semi-structured questionnaires
were used to assess household socio-demographic characteristics and
attitudes towards fruit consumption. Fruit intake and general food
intake was surveyed using quantitative 24 hour recalls.
 A household wealth indicator (WI)2 with a high score meaning high
wealth was calculated.
Bioversity International is a member of
the CGIAR Consortium. CGIAR is a
global research partnership for a food
secure future.
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Conclusions
 The recommended fruit consumption in Western Kenya is far below
the RDA, even though the agro-climatic conditions are favourable to
the production of a diversity of fruit species.
 Nearly half of participating households indicated the sale of fruits for
income generation, prior to meeting their own household
consumption. The income generated from the sale of fruits was
mostly spent on starchy staples with less spent on nutritious foods.
While through this the family might not go hungry, hidden hunger is
still persisting.
 As a majority of participants would like to increase fruit consumption
this should be seen as an incentive for increasing fruit production in
Western Kenya.
LED BY IFPRI
Acknowledgements:
This research was conducted with
the financial support of the CGIAR
Research Programme on Agriculture
for Nutrition and Health and the
Federal Ministry for Economic
Cooperation and Development,
Germany.
Figure 5: Average amount (g/day) of different food
groups consumed by participating women
(n=370) as compared to food-based dietary
guidelines (FAO 1997; USDA 2005; DGE
2004)
Results - consumption
 The number of times fruits were consumed per week differed significantly
between women, their husbands and children (Friedman test; P<0.001)
with the women consuming fruits less often (Figure 1). All household
members, especially children, would like to consume more fruits (Figure 2).
 The number of times the respondent consumed fruits per week was
significantly negatively correlated with her age (tau=-0.145; P<0.001) and
slightly positively with the household’s wealth index (tau=0.087; P=0.030).
Daily fruit consumption during the last 4 weeks was low (Figure 3).
 Less than 1/3 of participants consumed fruits during the last day (Figure 4)
and the average amount of fruits consumed by women during the previous
day was 54g, the amount of vegetables was 85g (Figure 5). Consequently,
average consumption of fruits and vegetables was less than half of the
WHO RDA of 400g per person and day. The amount of fruit intake was
slightly significantly negatively correlated with women’s age (rho=-0.128;
P=0.014).
 In the previous 7 days, respondents had consumed mainly 6 different fruit
species, namely sweet banana (52%), avocado (51%), orange (38%),
guava (34%), mango (29%) and pawpaw (26%).
0 10 20 30 40 50
Once
About 2 to 3
times
About 4 to 5
times
About 6 to 7
times
Percent
Fruit consumption per week
Respondant
(n=365)
Husband
(n=218)
Children
(n=322)
Figure 1: Number of times fruits are consumed per week by family members as perceived by the
female respondent.
Results - production
 Of participating households, 80% grew fruits from which 55% used the
fruits for own consumption only, 5% for income generation only, and
38% for both (Figure 6).
 The least amount of household food expenditure was spent on fruits
(Figure 7).
 The most common fruits produced were sweet banana, papaya,
avocado and mango with variations between the agro-ecological zones,
while the most favourite fruits of household members were mango
(25%), avocado (21%), orange (19%), sweet banana (16%) and
pawpaw (5%).
27.7 25 23.8
0
20
40
60
80
100
Children
(n=347)
Husband
(n=280)
Respondant
(n=370)
Daily fruit consumption during
the last 4 weeks
no
yes
96.8 93.2 88.6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Children
(n=278)
Husband
(n=206)
Respondant
(n=370)
Would you like to eat more
fruits?
no
yes
0 100 200 300 400
starchy staples
pulses/ nuts
vegetables
fruits
ASF
sugar
oils/ fats
Average daily food intake (grams)
Study participants Recommendation
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Vitamin A
rich fruits
Other fruits All fruits
Percent
Fruit consumption during last
24 hours
Participant Household
Figure 4: Percent of participants and
households (n=370) who
consumed fruits during the
previous 24 hours
Figure 3: Percentage of family members
consuming fruits daily during the last 4
weeks
Figure 2: Percentage of family members who
would like to consume more fruits
Fruit
production
for own
consumption
55%
Fruit
production
for own
consumption
55%
Fruit
production
for selling
only
5%
Fruit
production
for selling
only
5%
Fruit
production
for both own
consumption
and selling
38%
Fruit
production
for both own
consumption
and selling
38%
Money obtained through fruit selling is spent
on non-food products (22%) and food
products (60%) namely (n=118):
Starchy staples 43%
Animal Source Foods 16%
Vegetables 11%
Soft drinks, sweets 2%
Mixture of different kinds of foods 26%
400
330
190
110
100
60
Money spent on food
(KES per week)
Starchy staples ASF
Vegetables Pulses, nuts
Fats, oils Fruits
Figure 7: Money spent per week on
six different food groups
Figure 6: Use of fruit from own production and use of
money obtained from selling fruits
References:
1. Ruel MT, Minot N and Smith L (2005). Patterns and determinants of fruit and vegetable
consumption in sub-Saharan Africa: a multi-country comparison. World Health Organization,
Geneva and IFPRI: Washington D.C. USA.
2. WHO (2003). WHO fruit and vegetable promotion initiative – report of the meeting. Geneva,
Switzerland, 25-27 August 2003.
3. Filmer D, Pritchett LH (2001). Estimating wealth effects without expenditure data- or tears: an
application to educational enrollments in states of India. Demography, 38(1):115–32.
Oranges/ Citrus sinensis and avocado/ Persea
americana on Wangige market
© Bioversity InternationalG. Keding
Sweet banana/ Musa paradisiaca
© Bioversity InternationalG. Keding
Interview in a household in Bondo district
© Bioversity InternationalG. Keding
Sweet grenadilla/ Passiflora ligularis
© Bioversity InternationalG. Keding
Avocado/ Persea americana in fruit
© ICRAFR. Bliault