PASHFARM

Permanent URI for this collection

https://publication.aercafricalibrary.org/handle/123456789/4003

Browse

Browsing PASHFARM by Author "Bomdzele, Eric Junior"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Breaking Gender Barriers in Food Retail: Pathways to Sustainable and Healthy Food Systems in Cameroon
    (AERC, 2025) Ayuk, Justine E.; Kareem, Fatima Olanike; Assoua, Joe E.; Bomdzele, Eric Junior
    In developing countries, the informal food retail sector is strategic for improving access to food, particularly for poor urban individuals and households (Skinner, 2016). Women dominate the informal food retail sector in Africa and constitute the majority of food vendors in open markets in many poor rural and urban communities in sub-Saharan Africa. According to the ILO (2023), close to 90% of African women dominate the non-agricultural informal economy. In Cameroon, 68.3% of women work as independent entrepreneurs in the informal sector, compared to 48.2% of men, according to the Cameroon National Institute of Statistics [NIS] (NIS, 2022). As key players in informal food retail systems, women retailers often have direct relationships with local farmers, markets, and food suppliers, enabling them to source a diverse range of food products. With growing rates of urbanisation (i.e., 57.6% urban population in 2020 compared to 27.3% in 1976) (UN-DESA, 2018), the informal food The retail sector continues to play a critical role in urban and peri-urban food systems, enhancing access to a diversified diet for medium and low-income households in Cameroon.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Improving Household Nutrition through Biofortified Foods: Gender-Responsive Policy Options
    (AERC, 2025) Assoua, Joe E.; Kareem, Fatima Olanike; Bomdzele, Eric Junior; Etah, Ayuk Justine
    Biofortification has been shown to provide numerous health and nutrition benefits, including Vitamin A, iron, and zinc to women of childbearing age and children under 5, as well as improve food security and increase food accessibility (Foley et al., 2021; Ruel & Alderman, 2013). In Rwanda, biofortification is a central focus of the government’s national agricultural policies and strategies with the aim of addressing micronutrient deficiencies prevalent among vulnerable groups like women and children, to combat malnutrition and improve public health outcomes. Despite the concerted efforts to increase the production and consumption of biofortified foods, the consumption of these products is still low, and household food and nutrition insecurity persist. It thus becomes imperative to ascertain how the interplay of factors at the household level can explain the willingness to purchase nutrition-enhanced food.