Peer-reviewed article
Food system determinants of seasonal malnutrition in children under 5 years in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review protocol.
Ebenezer Nasagre, Gordon Dugle, Vitalis Bawontuo ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This is a protocol for a scoping review that will examine how food systems affect seasonal malnutrition in children under 5 years across sub-Saharan Africa. The review recognises that child malnutrition follows seasonal patterns linked to agricultural cycles, climate and economic factors, yet current interventions often ignore these dynamics. Researchers will search databases and grey literature from 2015 onwards and analyse food system factors at local, regional and national levels. The results will be used to design better system-based approaches to address seasonal malnutrition in the region.
Key points
- Approximately 148 million children in sub-Saharan Africa are stunted and 45 million are wasted
- Malnutrition in children under 5 frequently follows seasonal patterns shaped by agricultural cycles, climatic variability and socioeconomic conditions
- Current interventions have paid limited attention to food system dynamics that underpin malnutrition fluctuations
- The review will analyse food system determinants at micro, meso and macro levels
- Findings will inform development of integrated system-based approaches to address seasonal malnutrition
Limitations
This is a protocol document, not a completed review, so no findings or evidence of effectiveness are yet available. The document does not specify which countries in sub-Saharan Africa will be included, only indicating the regional scope.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Child malnutrition remains a pressing public health challenge in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where approximately 148 million children are stunted and 45 million are wasted. Although often conceptualised as a persistent condition, evidence indicates that malnutrition among children under 5 years frequently follows seasonal patterns shaped by agricultural cycles, climatic variability and socioeconomic conditions. Current interventions have paid limited attention to the food system dynamics that underpin these fluctuations. Adopting a system perspective, this scoping review will synthesise existing evidence on the food system determinants of seasonal malnutrition in children under 5 years in SSA. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The review will be conducted in accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute methodological framework for scoping reviews and reported following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses - Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. A comprehensive search will be undertaken across electronic databases (Google Scholar, ProQuest Central, PubMed, Scopus and African Index Medicus) for literature published from 2015 onwards. Grey literature will also be sought from institutional repositories of the WHO, United Nations Children's Fund, Food and Agriculture Organization and World Food Programme. Screening of titles, abstracts and full texts will be performed independently by two reviewers using predefined eligibility criteria. Data extraction will capture study characteristics and food system determinants of seasonal malnutrition at micro, meso and macro levels. The Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information and Mapping Systems framework will guide the analysis and synthesis. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: As this review involves analysis of previously published data, ethical approval is not required. Findings will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed publication and social media engagements. Results will inform the development of integrated system-based approaches to address seasonal malnutrition in children under five in SSA. The full study protocol, datasets and supplementary forms will be published in an open-access repository in compliance with the Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reuse principles. REGISTRATION: This scoping review protocol is registered with the Open Science Framework (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/RU4ZX).