Pathway Identification on the Contribution of Home Garden Vegetables to Improve Nutritional Status of Children.

Home-garden vegetables could improve the nutritional status of children, but there are controversies on their impact and pathways through which they contribute to the improved nutritional status of children. The study was, therefore, conducted to analyze the pathways through which home-garden vegetables contribute to the nutritional status of children 6-23 months in Southern Tigray, Ethiopia. A quasi-experimental design was used to analyze the effect of the intervention using 382 sample households selected according to FANTA Sampling Guidelines. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using a structured questionnaire at baseline and endline surveys. Length-for-Age scores were computed using WHO Anthro-2006 software. Descriptive statistics and Principal-Component Analysis were analyzed using STATA software version 12. Vegetable producers had a larger area cultivated and were significantly growing diverse crops than non-producers. Households with greater than or equal to 1.5 ha of land were found to have the lowest but insignificant prevalence of child stunting. Though vegetable producers had a higher total annual income than non-producers, there was no significant difference in the status of child stunting due to the annual income. The first principal component is highly associated with agriculture and farm income, while the next important variables associated with the components are household dietary diversity and income sources other than farm income. The production of vegetables and crop and income diversification from home gardens were found to be important pathways to improve food and nutrition security. Hence, concerned bodies need to promote sustainable production of diverse vegetables and income diversification in rural households to ensure food and nutrition security.