We hypothesise that exposure to aflatoxins and fumonisins, measured in serum, alters protein synthesis, reducing serum protein and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), increasing inflammation and infection, leading to child’s linear growth failure.

Children 6–35 months, stratified by baseline stunting, were subsampled from an intervention trial on quality protein maize consumption and evaluated at two time-points.

Blood samples and anthropometric data were collected in the pre-harvest (August–September 2015) and post-harvest (February 2016) seasons in rural Ethiopia.

102 children (50 stunted and 52 non-stunted).

Proportions of children exposed to aflatoxin G1, aflatoxin G2 and aflatoxin M1 were higher in the pre-harvest (8, 33 and 7, respectively) compared to post-harvest season (4, 28 and 4, respectively). The proportion of children exposed to any aflatoxin was higher in the pre-harvest than post-harvest season (51 % v. 41 %). Fumonisin exposure ranged from 0 % to 11 %. In joint statistical tests, aflatoxin exposure was associated with serum biomarkers of inflammation (C-reactive protein, α-1-glycoprotein) and protein status (transthyretin, lysine, tryptophan), IGF-1 and linear growth (all P < 0·01). However, exposure to specific aflatoxins was not significantly associated with any biomarkers or outcomes (all P > 0·05).

Aflatoxin exposure among rural Ethiopian children was high, with large variation between seasons and individual aflatoxins. Fumonisin exposure was low. There was no clear association between aflatoxin exposure and protein status, inflammation or linear growth. A larger study may be needed to examine the potential biological interactions, and the assessment of aflatoxins in food is needed to determine sources of high exposure.

In Ethiopia, women’s dietary diversity is low, primarily due to poor food availability and access, both at home and market level. The present study aimed to describe market access using a new definition called market food diversity (MFD) and estimate the impact of MFD, crop and livestock diversity on dietary diversity among women enrolled in the Agriculture to Nutrition (ATONU) trial.

Baseline cross-sectional data collected from November 2016 to January 2017 were used for the analysis. Availability of foods in markets was assessed at the village level and categorized into nine food groups similar to the dietary diversity index for women. Bivariate and multivariate mixed-effects regression analyses were conducted, adjusted for clustering at the village level.

Chicken-producing farmers in rural Ethiopia.

Women (n 2117) aged 15–49 years.

Overall, less than 6 % of women met the minimum dietary diversity (≥5 food groups) and the most commonly consumed food groups were staples and legumes. Median MFD was 4 food groups (interquartile range: 2–8). Multivariate models indicated that women’s dietary diversity differed by livestock diversity, food crop diversity and agroecology, with significant interaction effects between agroecology and MFD.

Women’s dietary diversity is poor in Ethiopia. Local markets are variable in food availability across seasons and agroecological zones. The MFD indicator captures this variability, and women who have access to higher MFD in the highland agroecological zone have better dietary diversity. Thus, MFD has the potential to mitigate the effects of environment on women’s dietary diversity.