Characterizing the market food environment for animal sourced foods in Uganda

Food systems are rapidly changing due to factors such as climate change, population increase, urbanization and technological progress. These changes have contributed to transgression of planetary health boundaries posing a significant threat to health and nutrition outcomes. Currently over 3 billion people cannot access a healthy diet and those in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC) are most affected. Unhealthy diets have contributed to a rise in diet related Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, hypertension and some cancers(Al Jawaldeh and Abbass 2022). In Uganda for instance, four out of ten people are not meeting their required dietary intake. Around 16% of households are chronically undernourished, while 10.4% of adult (aged 18 years and over) women and 2.3% of adult men are living with obesity. with diabetes estimated to affect 5.6% of adult women and 5.6% of adult men (GNR Report 2024). About 26% of children under the age of five are stunted((UBOS) 2018).
A healthy diet is one that is sufficient, diverse, moderate and balanced (Herforth, 2025), these diets should be rich in whole foods, fruits and vegetable, minimally processed and low in salt and saturated fat. Often the existing food environments do not provide sufficient affordable healthy foods for the consumers.
The food environment is the ‘space’ where people acquire, purchase and consume foods from (Turner, Aggarwal et al. 2018, Constantinides, Turner et al. 2021), which dictates decision making and food choices, and influences health and nutrition outcomes (Downs, Staromiejska et al. 2025). The food environment is composed of both external dimensions such as price, vendor properties, information and marketing, and personal dimensions such as affordability, convenience, availability and accessibility (Turner, Aggarwal et al. 2018).
Animal Sourced Foods (ASFs) such as milk, eggs, fish, poultry and lean meat are nutrient dense with high biological value protein and essential micronutrients such as iron, folate, Vitamin A, B and D. They are important for growth and development of young children, as well as women of reproductive age. They are important in managing and preventing malnutrition especially in resource-constrained populations. Unfortunately, these foods are often difficult to access to these population due to factors such as relatively high cost, low productivity and socio-cultural beliefs (Gundersen, Iannotti et al. 2025)

Food environments have been interfaces of interest for many studies as they have important transformation entry points that can influence consumer diets. They represent critical points in changing diets or promoting healthy diets. Recent research has focused on food environments in the high-income countries and limited information is available from LMIC countries to inform on specific food environment dimensions that need modification to influence intake of healthy diets. This study is part of the CGIAR Better Diets and Nutrition (BDN) Science Program that is focused on delivering evidence, solutions, and decision-making tools to contribute to making sustainable healthy diets available, affordable, accessible, and desirable and to deliver equitable impact on diets, nutrition outcomes, livelihoods and the environment. With the focus on area of work (AoW) 3, it integrates interconnected innovations from consumers to producers that combine demand generation for nutrient-dense foods, improvements in the food environment, and support on the supply side. Further, it emphasizes co-creation with a diverse range of stakeholders, including community members, to ensure solutions are relevant and tailored to beneficiary needs with the goal of increasing consumption of nutrient dense foods such as ASFs and fruits and vegetables.

An earlier study (Namatovu et al, 2025), in the same population assessed the foods accessed, the food access points and related food environments, and the changes in food access across seasons and time – over the previous five years. Key highlights from that study are; i) market access and distribution- main district markets were key sources of fresh foods, dry staples, and animal-sourced foods (ASFs), supplying shops, kiosks, and restaurants. Shops and stalls within communities were easily accessible, while motorcycles were commonly used to reach central markets, and many markets had designated areas for livestock or slaughterhouses ii) wild, supplementary, and home-produced Foods- communities accessed wild foods such as fish, fruits, insects, mushrooms, and herbal medicine, while supplements like meat, sugar, cooking oil, and rice supported vulnerable groups. Home production included gardens and crop plots for both food consumption and sale, with men focusing on commercial crops and women on household consumption, alongside livestock rearing iii) food affordability and gender concerns- although the number of markets and food stalls increased, essential ASFs and key crops like Matooke were becoming unaffordable. Men expressed concern over rising ASF prices, whereas women were more worried about the scarcity of fruits and vegetables iv) challenges to Food Environments- land fragmentation, seasonal changes, agrochemical use, and migration affected food systems, while biodiversity loss and soil infertility reduced agricultural productivity. Respondents emphasized sustainable natural resource management and improved farming practices to enhance food production using limited available land.