Affordability of nutritious foods for complementary feeding in Eastern and Southern Africa

Low intake of diverse complementary foods causes critical nutrient gaps in the diets of young children. Inadequate nutrient intake in the first 2 years of life can lead to poor health, educational, and economic outcomes. In this study, the extent to which food affordability is a barrier to consumption of several nutrients critical for child growth and development was examined in Ethiopia, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Drawing upon data from nutrient gap assessments, household surveys, and food composition tables, current consumption levels were assessed, the cost of purchasing key nutritious foods that could fill likely nutrient gaps was calculated, and these costs were compared with current household food expenditure. Vitamin A is affordable for most households (via dark leafy greens, orange-fleshed vegetables, and liver) but only a few foods (fish, legumes, dairy, dark leafy greens, liver) are affordable sources of iron, animal-source protein, or calcium, and only in some countries. Zinc is ubiquitously unaffordable. For unaffordable nutrients, approaches to reduce prices, enhance household production, or increase household resources for nutritious foods are needed.