Piloting the use of accelerometry devices to capture energy expenditure in agricultural and rural livelihoods: Protocols and findings from northern Ghana

This study reports on the protocols adopted and the findings involving 40 respondents wearing accelerometry devices for a week

Abstract

This study reports on the protocols adopted and the findings from a pilot study in northern Ghana involving 40 respondents wearing accelerometry devices for a week. It shows how integrating energy expenditure data from wearable accelerometry devices with data on activity and time-use can provide a window into agricultural and rural livelihoods in developing country contexts that has not been previously available for empirical research. Findings confirm some of the stylised facts of agricultural and rural livelihoods, but the study also provides several new insights that come from the triangulation of energy expenditure, time use, and activity data. The authors report findings and explore the potential applications of using accelerometry devices for a better understanding of agriculture-nutrition linkages in developing countries.

This work was supported by the ‘Innovative Methods and Metrics for Agriculture and Nutrition Actions (IMMANA) programme and funded by UK Department for International Development.

Citation

Giacomo Zanello, C.S. Srinivasan, Paul Nkegbe, (2017) Piloting the use of accelerometry devices to capture energy expenditure in agricultural and rural livelihoods: Protocols and findings from northern Ghana, Development Engineering, Volume 2, 2017, Pages 114-131, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.deveng.2017.10.001.

Piloting the use of accelerometry devices to capture energy expenditure in agricultural and rural livelihoods: Protocols and findings from northern Ghana

Published 12 October 2017