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Animal‐source foods (ASFs), contain high amounts of essential nutrients that are readily absorbed by the body. However, children in resource‐constrained settings often have limited access to these nutritious foods. This study aimed to investigate the reasons for the low consumption of ASFs among children in the Amhara region of Ethiopia. A community‐based mixed‐methods study was conducted, using exploratory qualitative methods supplemented by the analysis of secondary data from the Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS). The qualitative study employed a multiphase stepwise design and the maximum variation purposive sampling technique, enroling a diverse range of participants such as mothers and/or caregivers, household heads, religious and community leaders, health and nutrition experts, and others. The qualitative data were analysed using a thematic framework analysis method, while the quantitative data were analysed using SPSS v22 statistical software. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the predictors of ASFs among children under 5 years of age in the region. Despite the large and diverse livestock populations available, only 13.2% of children consumed at least one animal‐source food (ASF) in the prior day. The most consumed ASFs were dairy and eggs, whereas beef, organ meat, and seafood were the least consumed. Household demographics such as residence, literacy level, paternal age, and household wealth quintiles influenced the overall consumption of ASFs. The main reasons for the low consumption of ASFs among children were unaffordability and poor awareness among caregivers. In addition, religious misconceptions, price hikes, limited availability during certain seasons, low productivity, insufficient support from health professionals, and time constraints for caregivers were also mentioned as significant barriers to ASF consumption in the area. The consumption of ASFs among children in Ethiopia, particularly in the Amhara region, remains very low. This is mainly due to the caregivers' levels of awareness and unaffordability of ASFs. It is recommended that behavioural and sociocultural interventions be implemented that target caregivers to improve the consumption of ASFs among children. In resource‐constrained settings such as Ethiopia, children often have limited access to nutritious animal‐source foods (ASFs). In the Amhara region, despite a large and diverse livestock population, only one in ten children consume at least one type of ASF. Particularly, they have very limited access to beef, organ meat (offal), and seafood. Affordability and caregiver awareness of ASFs are the main factors contributing to poor consumption. Additional factors, such as religious misconceptions, limited availability during certain seasons, low productivity, insufficient support from health professionals, and caregiver time constraints, further hinder ASF consumption. Key messages In resource‐constrained settings such as Ethiopia, children often have limited access to nutritious animal‐source foods (ASFs). In the Amhara region, despite a large and diverse livestock population, only one in ten children consume at least one type of ASF. Particularly, they have very limited access to beef, organ meat (offal), and seafood. Affordability and caregivers awareness of ASFs are the main factors contributing to poor consumption. Additional factors, such as religious misconceptions, limited availability during certain seasons, low productivity, insufficient support from health professionals, and caregiver time constraints, further hinder ASF consumption.

Small-scale cultivation and irrigation of planted forages can increase the availability of good-quality animal feed in smallholder farms. However, low adoption rates of improved forage technologies in most parts of sub-Saharan Africa have been observed and are partly attributed to limited understanding of gender dynamics in the context of production and utilization of planted forages. The introduction of small-scale cultivation and irrigation of planted forages is likely to interlink gender relations in the mixed crop–livestock farming system given the differences in contributions, benefits and challenges men and women farmers face. Efforts to transform livestock systems through improving adoption, scaling, and sustainability forage interventions can benefit from empirical evidence on gender relations in feed-related activities. We aim to highlight the linkage between gender relations and women’s empowerment in the production and utilization of feed resources smallholder settings. We used mixed methods, drawing on quantitative data obtained from a cross-sectional survey of 250 men and 250 women, and qualitative data obtained from eight focus group discussions in smallholder settings of the Amhara and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s regions of Ethiopia, where small-scale irrigation was introduced to boost the production of cultivated forages by households. We used the Women’s Empowerment in Livestock Index tool to elicit data and analyze the empowerment of the sampled men and women. Women’s empowerment differed significantly with different dimensions of gender relations, types of forages grown, and small-scale irrigation practice. Moreover, women in households practicing small-scale irrigation of planted forages were significantly more empowered and most (80%) achieved the adequate threshold in “work balance”. The study findings point to the positive link between empowerment and the likely shifts in gender relations from the practice of small-scale production and irrigation of forages.

We present scientific perspectives on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and global food security. International organizations and current evidence based on other respiratory viruses suggests COVID-19 is not a food safety issue, i.e., there is no evidence associating food or food packaging with the transmission of the virus causing COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2), yet an abundance of precaution for this exposure route seems appropriate. The pandemic, however, has had a dramatic impact on the food system, with direct and indirect consequences on lives and livelihoods of people, plants, and animals. Given the complexity of the system at risk, it is likely that some of these consequences are still to emerge over time. To date, the direct and indirect consequences of the pandemic have been substantial including restrictions on agricultural workers, planting, current and future harvests; shifts in agricultural livelihoods and food availability; food safety; plant and animal health and animal welfare; human nutrition and health; along with changes in public policies. All aspects are crucial to food security that would require \"One Health\" approaches as the concept may be able to manage risks in a cost-effective way with cross-sectoral, coordinated investments in human, environmental, and animal health. Like climate change, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic will be most acutely felt by the poorest and most vulnerable countries and communities. Ultimately, to prepare for future outbreaks or threats to food systems, we must take into account the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations and a \"Planetary Health\" perspective.

Healthy livestock provide meaningful opportunities to enhance women’s empowerment (WE) in low- and middle-income countries. Animal vaccines are important to keep livestock healthy and productive. However, gender-based restrictions limit women’s access to animal health services, thereby affecting the potential of livestock to enhance their empowerment. While growing empirical evidence reveals that women-controlled livestock (e.g., small ruminants) have important implications for WE and support better household nutrition outcomes, little empirical evidence exists from rigorous analyses of the relationship between WE and animal vaccines for women-controlled livestock species. Our analysis explores the relationship between WE and involvement with PPR vaccination in Ghana. Data collected using the Women’s Empowerment in Livestock Index (WELI) tool from 465 women and 92 men farmers (who keep goats) from northern Ghana, and analyzed using PLS-SEM, revealed a significant direct positive association between knowledge about animal health and PPR vaccines and a significant indirect positive association between access to PPR vaccines and empowerment. The empowerment of women goat farmers, as revealed by our model’s results for the relationship between empowerment and vaccine facets, was significantly represented by asset ownership and input into decisions concerning livestock. These study results reveal important considerations in designing effective and equitable livestock vaccine systems.

Livestock support the livelihoods of one billion people in Africa, Asia and Latin America, but the productivity of animals remains low, reducing the potential of the sector to support higher incomes and better nutrition. Improved livestock feeding has been identified as the most important step towards higher productivity. This scoping review assessed the evidence for the uptake of improved ruminant livestock feed options, the effect of this uptake on livestock productivity and the degree to which this improves smallholder farmer livelihoods. In total, 22,981 papers were identified, of which 73 papers were included in the final analysis after a rigorous double-blind screening review. Only papers that reported farmers’ decision to use a new feed intervention were selected, thereby excluding feeding trials and participatory feed assessments. Of the 73 papers, only 6 reported combined evidence of adoption, effect on productivity and livelihood changes. A total of 58 papers looked at adoption, 19 at productivity change and 22 at livelihood change. This scoping review highlights the gap in evidence for the adoption of new livestock feeding practices and provides recommendations to support farmers’ uptake of feed interventions. Livestock support the livelihoods of a billion people in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and improved feeding could increase productivity. However, this scoping review highlights serious gaps in evidence around the adoption of new feeding practices.

Despite the substantial contribution donkeys make to the livelihood of the world’s poorest populations, the existence of donkeys has received little notice worldwide. This article reviews the value of donkeys in a variety of sectors, including agriculture, construction industry, and mining, as well as their role in empowering women and achieving sustainable development goals. However, donkeys and mules are not given enough credit or attention in terms of developing strategies regarding their role in reducing poverty. There is a dearth of information and statistics on their impact across industries, the factors contributing to the donkey population dropping, the socioeconomic status of the dependent communities, and related animal and human welfare issues.

Consumption of animal source foods, through livestock production, improves children's growth and micronutrient status. However, research on the relationship between livestock ownership and childhood anemia has produced conflicting results. The current study used robust analytical approaches to examine the effect of household livestock ownership on children's anemia using the most recent secondary data from the national demographic and health survey. We followed a 1:1 closest neighborhood propensity score matching analysis. A propensity score was generated using the binary logistic regression model to compute the probability of owning livestock. From a total of 18,008 households enrolled in the latest Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS 2016), data of 721 index children aged 6–59 months from households owning livestock were matched with a comparable number (721) of children from households without livestock. The paired and independent t‐test, matched relative risk (RR), and standardized mean differences were used to compare the distributions of hemoglobin concentration and anemia risks between treatment and control groups. Anemia was found in more than half (54.1% and 58.8%) of children aged 6–59 months from livestock‐owning and nonowning families, respectively ( p  > .05). Aggregate ownership of livestock was not associated with hemoglobin concentration or anemia status (RR = 0.95, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] [0.87–1.04]). Species‐wise, poultry was associated with a lower (RR = 0.88, 95% CI [0.84–0.95]) anemia risk, while ownership of goat/sheep was associated with higher (RR = 1.10, 95% CI [1.03–1.17]) risk. In conclusion, ownership of small livestock species (sheep/goats and poultry), but not aggregate livestock ownership, was associated with the risk of anemia among children in Ethiopia. Therefore, agriculture‐sensitive nutrition, with a One Health lens approach, is recommended to mitigate the high burden of anemia among children in Ethiopia. In the future, a well‐controlled interventional study with more extended periods may be required to fully understand the effects of livestock production and highlight the differences seen across livestock species.

Inadequate and poor-quality feed resources are a key constraining factor in livestock production that compromises the livelihoods of many women and men dependent on livestock, who can be found in most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Several forage varieties have been developed, which are targeted to smallholder farmers in developing countries, yet the level of adoption remains low, particularly among women farmers. Adoption of varieties could enhance livelihoods by increasing livestock productivity and also by providing an income from the sale of surplus forage. However, evidence on gendered barriers to and incentives for the adoption of forage varieties is scarce. This study explores the gender dynamics influencing the uptake and commercialization of a forage variety, Brachiaria (syn. Urochloa) , among women and men farmers in four subcounties in Kenya. Through a mixed-methods approach, 260 individuals (59 women and 201 men) belonging to a household where at least one individual is a member of a dairy cooperative were interviewed. Complementary data from qualitative interviews engaging 16 single-sex focus group discussions (FGDs) and 8 key informant interviews (KIIs) were collected. Results reveal that Brachiaria is accessible to both women and men. Dairy cooperatives are important means for women and men to access extension services, useful information, and planting materials, but only a few women are cooperative members. Men face constraints owing to small land areas, rather than the ownership and access problems that constrain women. These challenges privilege men as de facto owners of resources while subordinating women and disenfranchising them in terms of adopting this technology. Complex yet important pathways for women’s and men’s empowerment exist through the sale of planting materials, hay bales, and an increased volume of milk obtained when cows are fed with Brachiaria . We conclude that cooperative membership for men should be supported, while at the same time gender norms that reduce women’s engagement with cooperatives, and their access to and control over land, should be challenged.

Dairy intensification as a development strategy is expected to improve household nutrition, yet the pathways by which this occurs are not well understood. This article examines how women’s time use and decision-making patterns related to dairy income and consumption are associated with dairy intensification, as a way of exploring the links between intensification and nutrition. Results from our mixed methods study conducted with households representing low, medium and high levels of dairy intensification in rural Kenya indicated that children in high-intensity households received more milk than children in medium-intensity households. While women seemed to be gaining control over evening milk sales decisions, men seemed to be increasingly controlling total dairy income, a trend countered by the increase in reported joint decision making. Women from medium-intensity households reported spending more time on dairy activities than women from high-intensity households. More research on how dairy interventions affect women is needed.