Abstract
Achieving dietary diversity in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands is a big challenge due to the weather patterns in this climatic zone. Low rainfall and high-temperature levels negatively affect food production and livestock in these areas. Kitchen gardens are known to directly improve food security at household levels by ensuring access to nutritious and diversified foods; information on the role they play in Arid and Semi-arid lands is scanty. A comparative study was conducted between August and September 2019 to determine dietary diversity among 98 practicing and 221 non-practicing households. Data entry and analysis were performed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 and Microsoft excel. Results showed that kitchen garden practicing and non-practicing households had similar characteristics in age, sex, main occupation, and type of contribution to a household (p >0.05) but differed significantly (p <0.05) in the level of education and gender of the household head. The study showed a significant difference (p<0.05) in the dietary diversity scores between the two groups. Kitchen gardening practicing households had a more diversified diet than non-practicing households. This could be contributed by the fact that all the households that practiced kitchen gardening had planted more than one type of vegetable, and the majority (71%) of the participants, had more than two types of vegetables. Out of all the four indicators of sustainability used in the study, the water source was the most significant setback. In conclusion, kitchen gardens influence the dietary diversity of households. Key Words: Dietary Diversity, Household, Kitchen Garden, Semi-Arid Lands
Published Version
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