Climate change adaptation strategies, determinants, and nutrition outcomes: an analysis focusing on Mbire District, Mashonaland central province, Zimbabwe

Climate change occurs over time and mostly affects changes in temperature and weather patterns, therefore affecting crop yields and agricultural production. Adaptation to climate change has resulted in communities being better off in terms of being resilient to climate change. However, little is understood concerning the effects of these coping strategies on the health and nutrition status of these communities. This study aimed to investigate the effect of climate change adaptation strategies on nutrition status of women and children and diet quality of households in Mbire District, Mashonaland Province, Zimbabwe. The household-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Southern Zimbabwe, Mbire District. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews to determine adaptation strategies, food consumption score (FCS), household dietary diversity (HDDS), and minimum dietary diversity for women (MDD-W). Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression model was employed to analyse the relationship between adaptation strategies and nutrition indicators FCS, HDDS, and MDD-W, alongside household socio-demographic characteristics. Binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to test for the determinants of likelihood of adaptation. A total of 419 households participated in this study. At least 85% of the households grew drought-tolerant crops. Average age of household head was 40 ± 5 years. Most households had poor diet quality, 43.9% had a poor food consumption score, and 74.3% of the women of childbearing age consumed less than 5 food groups. Stunting was high at 22.8% and underweight was 10.3%. There was an association between household head age (p = 0.00), gender (p = 0.00), marital status, employment status (p = 0.01) and income level (p = 0.01) with whether or not households employed an adaptation strategy. Households which employed an adaptation strategy were more likely to have a higher Food Consumption Score (38.16) than those that did not (32.71). There was a higher Household Dietary Diversity score (HDDS) for households which employed climate change adaptation strategies (4.054) compared to those which did not (4.309). This difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.083). Concerning women's dietary diversity scores, those who did not employ any adaptation strategy had a lower dietary diversity score of 3.012 compared to those who did employ adaptation strategies (3.575) (p = 0.001). Age in years and household size were positive predictors of use of adaptation strategies (p < 0.01). Gender of the household head, educational level and employment status were negative predictors of use of adaptation strategies (p < 0.05). Furthermore, children under 5 in a household that employed an adaptation strategy had better nutrition outcomes compared to children from households which did not employ any adaptation strategy. Study findings highlight the potential positive impact of responses that mitigate against the effects of climate change on diet quality and child nutrition status. Widespread Social Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) strategies must be employed in areas prone to climate change. Early warning systems must incorporate nutrition indicators to better monitor and predict nutrition hazards and to be better prepared for recurring shocks. Policies need to be put in place to encourage funding for more research on more climate-resilient crops, sustainable diets, and innovative farming techniques as well as on developing food and nutrition strategies that incorporate climate change mitigation issues.