The Impact of a Household Food Garden Intervention on Food Security in Lesotho

Corinna May Walsh, Michelle Shannon Fouché, Mariette Nel and Frederik Booysen
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Corinna May Walsh: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein 9301, South Africa
Michelle Shannon Fouché: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein 9301, South Africa
Mariette Nel: Department of Biostatistics, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein 9301, South Africa
Frederik Booysen: School of Economics and Finance, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2000, South Africa

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 22, 1-13

Abstract: Food insecurity is a challenge in the developing world, where many are finding healthy food inaccessible due to poverty. A pre-test, post-test design was applied to determine the impact of a vegetable gardening intervention in 25 experimental and 25 control households in Lesotho. Information about sociodemographic conditions and indicators of food security was collected by trained fieldworkers. As evidenced by the Living Poverty Index of 2.5, the sample was characterized by high levels of poverty. Although almost no households were scored very low or low using the Months of Adequate Household Food Provisioning (MAHFP) tool, less than half of households were categorized as food-secure. Household Dietary Diversity (HDD) showed infrequent intake of vegetables and fruits and regular intake of fats and sugar. After intervention, the percentage of households with a low HDD score improved significantly in the intervention group (12%) compared to the control group (40%) (95% CI (2.5%; 50.7%)). Despite this, the percentage of households that consumed vegetables during the previous day was still below 30%. Food gardens have the potential to improve availability of food and frequency of vegetable consumption, but harsh environmental conditions need to be considered.

Keywords: living poverty index; adequate household food provisioning; dietary diversity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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