The secret to a balanced diet? Better roads, say scientists

A new study challenges the conventional wisdom that crop diversity alone addresses nutritional deficiencies.

Roughly two billion people worldwide suffer from some form of undernutrition, raising debates among researchers and policymakers on how to improve diets and nutrition among vulnerable populations.

A new study published in the journal Nature Food is challenging the conventional wisdom that the production of crop diversity by farmers (food production diversity or FPD) is the primary path to addressing nutritional deficiencies.

So what’s the link between dietary diversity and the nutrition of individuals and households? And will access to markets address undernutrition?

The study by the Center for Development Research (ZEF) at the University of Bonn, Germany – a first of its kind – collected data on nearly 90,000 households in Africa between 2008 and 2022 in Ethiopia, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda.

It recommends that building better roads that give access to markets in local towns and cities can better address nutritional deficiencies.