Journal
SUSTAINABILITY
Volume 13, Issue 6, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/su13063449
Keywords
sustainable development goals; peri-urban; milk safety; nutrition; gender
Funding
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- UK aid from the UK government [OPP1156625]
- CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH)
- CGIAR Research Program on Livestock
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation [OPP1156625] Funding Source: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
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Gender roles play a significant role in milk purchase and handling among peri-urban poor populations in Tanzania and Kenya, with women often having limited decision-making power in this regard. Interventions to promote safe milk consumption should consider gender norms, strengthen collaborative decision-making within households, involve men in nutrition programming, and empower women with control over food expenditures.
Milk, provided it is safe, provides important micronutrients that can combat hidden hunger (undernutrition). Many peri-urban poor people in Tanzania and Kenya use informal markets to purchase milk in order to provide nutritional benefits to their families. Household decision-making processes play an influential role in how much milk to buy and how it is treated. This exploratory qualitative study, conducted in peri-urban Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, examined how access to milk, control over milk handling and safety, and intra-household milk distribution are affected by gender dynamics and by changes in milk availability and price. Focus group discussions with 48 women and 45 men and key informant interviews with 8 men and 8 women, all of whom were parents or caretakers to young children, were conducted. The results indicate that gender roles in milk purchase and handling vary. Generally, providing enough milk is a man's responsibility, whilst a woman is expected to ensure a nutritious diet. Yet women's limited decision-making power regarding milk purchase can restrict their ability to provide sufficient milk. Interventions to promote safe milk consumption need to consider gender norms, strengthen intra-household collaborative decision-making, include men in nutrition programming, and increase women's control over food expenditures.
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