Production Activities, Food Supply and Nutritional Status in Malawi

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Periodical article

Title:	Production Activities, Food Supply and Nutritional Status in Malawi
Author:	Engberg, Lila E.
Year:	1987
Periodical:	Journal of Modern African Studies
Volume:	25
Issue:	1
Pages:	139-147
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Malawi
Subjects:	food food production Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment Health and Nutrition Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Health, Nutrition, and Medicine agriculture Cultural Roles Sex Roles
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/160971
Abstract:	Little is yet known about the dynamics of cropping patterns of the smallest farmers in Malawi, or of related issues like the relationship between cash cropping, the cultivation of food crops destined for home consumption, and the nutritional status of the family. This paper examines such production/consumption relationships. It describes a theoretical model for the study of household production activities, and uses this for categorizing the work of husbands and wives in two villages, one mainly growing tobacco, the other primarily a semisubsistence village. It was found that the women in the sample had heavier work loads than their husbands, and this could be a major constraint when attempting to increase local food production. As regards nutritional status, it was found that the members of the households from the semisubsistence village were somewhat better off than those from the tobacco-growing village. Notes, ref.