Awareness, acceptance and usage of ready-to-use supplementary foods in Zimbabwe

Abstract

This research aimed to determine the awareness, acceptability, and utilisation of Ready-to-Use Supplementary Foods in Zimbabwe. Household coping strategies were investigated. Convenience sampling and face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire were used to gather data. Two hundred and eighteen voluntary individuals from the ten provinces of Zimbabwe were purposively selected and interviewed. Many participants (77.98 %) had heard about the Ready-to-Use Supplementary Food (RUSF). Most participants had not consumed RUSF (94.14 %) while 5.86 % of the participants had consumed RUSF prior to this survey. Exclusion and inclusion criteria left out many needy people. Some participants complained tha`t very little RUSF was given to very few people due to distribution of inadequate quantities and pilferage. RUSF usage was very low. Coping household strategies included group purchasing and sharing of bulk basic goods on discount from wholesalers. Depending on wild fruits, tubers, and vegetables as well as drying food for later use increased. Illegal street forex deals, illegal gold and diamond mining, and illegal fishing proliferated. Marketing of second hand clothes and new clothes by runner agencies became popular. Batter trade, consuming unusual foods like crocodile meat and insects, division of villages such that in small villages all people got rations every time the donors distributed foods, getting food from chiefs’ granaries, farm brick molding, temporary employment in farms, and skipping of the border by family members to work in foreign countries helped during shocks. The majority of the participants (90.83 %) accepted RUSF and recommended its commercialization. RUSFs could be used to prevent and reduce malnutrition.