Contribution of forest food to food security in the Basin of Congo

This dataset contains tables of: household census, anthropometric data by household, results of focus group surveys, food security estimation, nutrient analysis first phase (raw data) and results of nutreauceuticals properties analysis. Firstly the studied villages were selected in each country on the basis of their accessibility, ethnicity and proximity to the selected timber logging company. The study was carried out using two methods of investigation: Focus group discussion and household’s interview. - Focus group discussion (3 groups: men, women and children; each group containing 8 to 15 individuals): It was in the aims of finding forest food consumed by these populations, and also to identify the most important forest food of their diets, with a particular accent about those from the trees exploited by forest companies. - Interviews in the households: they were carried out using a questionnaire structured in 5 sections. Section A: Evaluation of the socio-economic and demographic status of the households; Section B: Evaluation of the household food insecurity; Section C: Evaluation of contribution of forest foods to the food diversity of the households through a 24 h recall; Section D: Evaluation the food frequency consumption of the various groups of food; Section E: Evaluation of knowledge, attitudes and practical of the forest inhabitants. In each village, 20-22 households took part. After this first phase of interview, three quarterly follow-ups were carried out in each interviewed households each 3 months with the questionnaire of the section C. Nutrient Analysis After the first phase of the interviews, a list of forest food consumed was selected for nutrient analysis. At the second phase, the selected fruits were collected. The mature fresh fruits and nuts per species, were sampled from different points and collected in a perforated plastic container, labeled and kept in an ice box container and transported to the laboratory at Yaoundé I University in Cameroon for analyses. At the laboratory, the samples were washed thoroughly with deionized water and conserved in a refrigerator at 4°C. For each fruit species, two fruits out of the three per village were randomly selected for edible pulp extraction. The pulp from the fruits and nuts were mashed in a blender. Extracted edible pulps per species were divided into two sub samples. For the first sub sample, the extracted fresh pulp was immediately sealed in clean polyethylene bags and conserved at −20°C and later used for vitamin, bioactive compound and anti-nutrient analysis, while the other sub sample was analyzed for moisture content. The dried samples were conserved for proximate analysis.本数据集包含以下类别的表格数据：家庭人口普查数据、按家庭分组的人体测量学数据、焦点小组调研（Focus Group Discussion）结果、粮食安全评估结果、第一阶段营养分析原始数据，以及营养保健品（nutraceuticals）特性分析结果。 研究村庄的选取基于三大标准：各村庄的可及性、族群特征，以及与选定木材采伐公司的邻近程度。本研究采用两种调研方法开展：焦点小组讨论与家庭访谈。 1. 焦点小组讨论：共设置3个组别，分别为男性组、女性组与儿童组，每组包含8至15名参与者。该环节旨在探明当地居民食用的森林食品，识别其日常饮食中占比最高的森林食品，尤其关注森林企业采伐的树木所产出的相关食品。 2. 家庭访谈：采用分为5个模块的结构化问卷开展调研： - 模块A：评估家庭的社会经济与人口状况； - 模块B：评估家庭粮食不安全程度； - 模块C：通过24小时膳食回顾（24 h recall）法，评估森林食品对家庭膳食多样性的贡献； - 模块D：评估各类食品的消费频率； - 模块E：评估森林居民的认知、态度与实践情况。 每个村庄共有20至22户家庭参与本次访谈。首次访谈完成后，研究团队对所有受访家庭开展了三次季度随访，每次间隔3个月，随访时仅使用模块C的问卷。 营养分析环节：首次访谈阶段结束后，研究人员选定当地居民日常食用的森林食品清单，用于开展营养分析。第二阶段，研究人员采集选定的森林食品：按物种采集成熟的新鲜水果与坚果，从不同点位取样后装入带孔塑料容器，贴好标签后置于保温冰盒中，随后送往喀麦隆雅温得第一大学实验室开展检测。 在实验室中，研究人员先用去离子水（deionized water）彻底清洗样本，随后将其置于4℃冰箱中保存。针对每个水果物种，从每个村庄采集的三份样本中随机选取两份，提取可食用果肉。将提取的果肉与坚果仁放入搅拌机中捣碎。按物种分组的可食用果肉被分为两份子样本：第一份子样本立即封装至洁净的聚乙烯袋（polyethylene bags）中，置于-20℃冷冻保存，后续用于维生素、生物活性成分与抗营养因子分析；第二份子样本则用于水分含量检测。烘干后的样本将用于常规营养成分分析（proximate analysis）。