Diversifying crop production has been proposed as a means of reducing food and nutrition insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa, but previous empirical studies yield mixed results. Much of this evidence has focused at the household level, but there are plausible reasons to expect that the presence of crop diversity at other scales affects human health. Utilizing data from 11 sub-Saharan African countries housed in the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS)-Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) system, this study assesses the association between village-level crop diversity and both dietary diversity and height-for-age among young children. Our findings indicate that, overall, village-level crop diversity contributes to higher dietary diversity and improved height-for-age and that functional diversity measures best account for nutritional outcomes. These findings provide an important basis for future research to explore the importance of crop diversity at scales beyond the household and to consider other contextual determinants of child health.

中文翻译：

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村庄层面的作物多样性是否会影响儿童营养安全？来自 11 个撒哈拉以南非洲国家的证据

已提议将作物生产多样化作为减少撒哈拉以南非洲地区粮食和营养不安全状况的一种手段，但之前的实证研究得出的结果喜忧参半。大部分证据都集中在家庭层面，但有合理的理由预计其他规模的作物多样性会影响人类健康。本研究利用综合公共使用微数据系列 (IPUMS)-人口与健康调查 (DHS) 系统中 11 个撒哈拉以南非洲国家的数据，评估了村庄级作物多样性与饮食多样性和身高之间的关联。幼儿之间的年龄。我们的研究结果表明，总体而言，村庄层面的作物多样性有助于提高饮食多样性和改善年龄别身高，而功能多样性衡量指标最能说明营养结果。