The Effect of Mung Bean on Improving Dietary Diversity of Women and Children in Senegal.

Since 2015, a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Virginia Tech Education and Research in Agriculture (ERA) collaboration has introduced and tested mung bean as a potential crop to alleviate malnutrition and food insecurity in Senegal. This study aimed to assess the impact of mung bean on dietary diversity of Senegalese women and children in the Kaolack, Matam and Bakel localities of Senegal. A mixed-methods research approach included individual surveys to determine dietary diversity scores (DDS) and focus groups to assess perceived impacts of mung bean. The dietary diversity survey was conducted with 194 participants including adult women, ages 15 to 70 years (n=109) and children, ages 0-10 years (n=85). Half (52%) of the population were mung bean consumers. The dietary diversity surveys revealed an average DDS of 5.73 on a scale of one to 10, with 5.83 and 5.62 for mung bean and non-mung bean-consuming groups, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference in DDS between mung-bean consuming women and both mung bean and non-mung bean consuming children, as well as between mung bean and non-mung bean consumers in Bakel; however, there was no significant difference between overall mung bean and non-mung bean groups DDS. Focus groups (n=11) with mung-bean consuming women identified perceived agricultural, health, and financial benefits associated with mung bean consumption. These results can increase our understanding of how mung bean may influence policy-relevant issues for the Senegalese population, including agricultural, health and financial outcomes that are not reflected in dietary diversity surveys.