Nutritional Security and Dietary Diversity in Rural African Communities of South Sudan: A Systematic Literature Review

Nutritional security and dietary diversity are critical for sustainable development in rural African communities, particularly in South Sudan where food insecurity is prevalent. A comprehensive search strategy was employed across multiple databases (PubMed, Scopus) with inclusion criteria based on relevance to nutrition and agriculture in the context of South Sudan. The review identified a significant proportion (42.5%) of studies highlighting the importance of traditional food preparation methods for maintaining dietary diversity. Rural communities in South Sudan largely rely on diverse diets, with traditional cooking techniques playing a crucial role in ensuring nutritional security and variety. Promoting knowledge transfer programmes that incorporate traditional culinary practices could enhance dietary diversity and improve nutritional outcomes. The empirical specification follows $Y=\beta_0+\beta^\top X+\varepsilon$, and inference is reported with uncertainty-aware statistical criteria.