The relationship between climate change induced natural disasters and selected nutrition outcomes: a case of cyclone Idai, Zimbabwe

Abstract

Background The increased frequency of climate induced natural disasters has exacerbated the risks of malnutrition in the already vulnerable regions. This study was aimed at exploring the efects of Cyclone Idai on nutrition outcomes of women of child-bearing age and children under 5 years. Method The household-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Eastern Zimbabwe. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews to determine food consumption score (FCS) and household dietary diversity (HDDS), minimum dietary diversity for women (MDD-W) and minimum dietary diversity for children (MDD-C). Severity of Cyclone Idai was grouped into fve categories based on the extent of damage to infrastructure and loss of human lives. Association between continuous and categorical variables was tested using Pearson correlation test and Chi square test, respectively. Linear and binary logistic regression was performed to investigate determinants of food security. Results A total of 535 households were interviewed. There was a signifcant correlation between severity of Cyclone Idai and MDD-W (p=0.011), HDDS (p=0.018) and FCS (p=0.001). However, severity of Cyclone Idai was not a determinant of any nutrition outcome, but gender of household head was a negative predictor of HDDS (β=−0.734, p=0.040), and marital status of household head was a positive predictor (β=0.093, p=0.016) of FCS. Conclusion The fndings provide a good baseline to inform future programming of food aid activities during disas‑ ters. More so, our fndings call for evidence-based policies regarding composition of a food aid basket and targeting of benefciaries. The main strength of this study is that it is the frst to investigate the efects of cyclones on food and nutrition security indicators and is based on a large sample size thus making our results generalisable