Abstract
The diets of many households in developing countries are monotonous and starch-based. Integrating underutilised indigenous vegetables (UIVs) to cropping systems can contribute to both crop and dietary diversities, thereby improving rural households’ nutrition and boosting food security. Therefore, this study established a link between the UIVs’ diversity and the household dietary diversity (HDD) of the UIVs producers in the rural area of Southwest Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 191 UIV-producing households in the region. Their HDD was measured based on the 12 unique food groups consumed by households over a 7-day reference period preceding the survey, and negative binomial Poisson regression analysis was used to determine the relationship between UIV diversities, other sociodemographic characteristics, and the HDD score of the UIV-producing households in the area. The results showed that only about four groups of food contributed greatly to the HDD score. The result of the negative binomial Poisson regression analysis showed UIVs diversity as a significant variable that increased the HDD score in the study area. Other factors that determined the HDD score of UIV-producing households were the marital status of the household head, farm distance from the home, UIVs land area, off-farm income, UIVs gross margin, per capita food expenditure, and Oyo location. The study concluded that the inclusion of diverse underutilised indigenous vegetables into cropping systems in rural areas and vegetable home gardening practices in the rural and urban areas of developing countries could alleviate the challenge of nutrition insecurity.
Highlights
There are links between the promotion of diversity in food crops, indigenous vegetables, and optimum nutritional status [1]
The main underutilised indigenous vegetables (UIVs) cultivated by the households include Amaranthus viridis, Solanecio biafrae, Solanum scarbum, Solanum nigum, Telfairia occidentalis, and Solanum macrocarpon
The purpose of this research was to establish the link between the household dietary diversity (HDD), UIVs diversity, and other socioeconomic characteristics of UIVs producers in the rural area of Southwest Nigeria
Summary
There are links between the promotion of diversity in food crops, indigenous vegetables, and optimum nutritional status [1]. It is unfortunate that food production approaches to date have culminated in increasing dependence on a small number of crops. This has been linked to poorer nutrition, especially in developing countries [3,4,5], where the household food demand pattern is monotonous and mainly dependent on a handful of starch-based foods like yam, cassava, maize, and rice, which are believed to be cheaper compared with micronutrientdense foods. Less demand is usually placed on micronutrient-based food sources like vegetables and protein [6,7]. This is probably because many people in rural areas are poor and, as such, cannot afford to pay for more nutritious food items
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