The social context of severe child malnutrition: a qualitative household case study from a rural area of the Democratic Republic of Congo

Kismul, Hallgeir; Hatløy, Anne; Andersen, Peter; Mapatano, Mala; Van den Broeck, Jan; Moland, Karen Marie

doi:10.1186/s12939-015-0175-x

International Journal for Equity in Health

Table 2 Overview of social fields with implications for household food security and child nutrition

From: The social context of severe child malnutrition: a qualitative household case study from a rural area of the Democratic Republic of Congo

Case no.	Children’s nutritional status	Social fields
		Household	Gbisa	Village	Local NGO
		Households with malnourished children
1	Marasmus	Nuclear family	Used male gbisa for land clearing	Rights to plots for maize and cassava cultivation.	Marasmic child treated at the hospital
1	Marasmus	Nuclear family	No use of female gbisa	Land redistributed by village chief	No access to safe water
2	Marasmus	Nuclear family	No use of gbisa	No agricultural land	Marasmic child treated at the hospital
2	Marasmus	Nuclear family	No use of gbisa	No agricultural land	No access to safe water
3	Kwashiorkor	Medium sized – extended household	No use of gbisa	Rights to agricultural land for maize, cassava and groundnut cultivation	Kwashiorkor child treated at the hospital
3	Kwashiorkor	Medium sized – extended household	No use of gbisa		No access to safe water
4	Kwashiorkor	Large extended household – three generations	No use of gbisa	Rights to several plots for maize, cassava and groundnut cultivation	Kwashiorkor child treated at the hospital
4	Kwashiorkor	Large extended household – three generations	No use of gbisa		No access to safe water
5	Well-nourished	Medium sized monogamous household	Use of male and female gbisa for agricultural activities	Usufruct rights to plots for maize, cassava and groundnut cultivation	Use of health centre services including counselling for infants and toddlers
5	Well-nourished	Medium sized monogamous household	Use of male and female gbisa for agricultural activities		Access to safe water provided by CDI-Bwamanda
6	Well-nourished	Large polygamous household – three generations	Use of male and female gbisa for agricultural activities Use of “groundnut” gbisa for capital accumulation investment in bicycle	Usufruct rights to several plots for maize, cassava, groundnut and palm oil cultivation	Use of health centre services including counselling for infants and toddlers
6	Well-nourished	Large polygamous household – three generations			Access to safe water provided by CDI-Bwamanda
7	Well-nourished	Large polygamous household	Use of gbisa for capital accumulation – investment in cattle	Usufruct rights to several plots for maize, cassava, palm oil cultivation and growing fruits	Use of health centre services including counselling for infants and toddlers
					Benefit from project combatting sleeping sickness
					Benefitted from hygiene project
					No access to safe water supply, but involved in planning drilling of new deep water well to be provided by CDI-Bwamanda
8	Well-nourished	Large polygamous household	No use of gbisa	Usufruct rights to several plots for maize, cassava, beans and palm oil cultivation	Use of health centre services including counselling for infants and toddlers
			Employ cash labourers and school children as an alternative to gbisa
					Took advantage of CDI-Bwamanda facilitating transport and sale of maize to Kinshasa
					Benefitted from project combatting sleeping sickness
					Benefitted from hygiene project
					Access to safe water supply provided by CDI-Bwamanda

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ISSN: 1475-9276

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