Nutrients (Jun 2024)
Relationship between Village Chicken Availability and Dietary Diversity along a Rural–Urban Gradient
Abstract
Dietary diversity is one of the fundamental factors of nutritional security and a proxy used to measure diet quality. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between village chicken availability and the dietary diversity of households along a rural–urban gradient. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using a structured questionnaire in rural (n = 100), peri-urban (n = 100), and urban (n = 100) areas of Pietermaritzburg uMgungundlovu District, KwaZulu-Natal, in South Africa. A positive relationship between distance from the city center and village chicken flock sizes (p p p p p p < 0.05). Assessing the availability of village chickens across rural–urban gradients is a worthy opportunity to utilize to improve households’ dietary diversity and alleviate poverty. It can be concluded that expanding village flock sizes could enhance the dietary diversity of households.
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