A Comparative Study of Kitchen Garden Practicing and Non-practicing Households in Igamba Ngombe

Abstract

Achieving dietary diversity in Arid and Semi-Arid lands is quite a big challenge due to the weather patterns experienced in this climatic zone. The low amounts of rainfall and high temperature levels negatively affect food production as well as livestock kept in these areas. Although Kitchen gardens are known to directly improve food security at household levels by ensuring access to foods that are nutritious and diversified, information on the role they play in Arid and Semi-arid lands is scanty. A comparative study was therefore conducted between August and September 2019 to determine the role of kitchen gardens in dietary diversity among 98 kitchen garden 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 household (p >0.05) but differed significantly (p <0.05) in level of education and gender of the household head. Female-headed households were more open to the idea of owning a kitchen garden compared to male-headed households. There was a significant difference between the two groups in the gender of the household head (p <0.05). The study showed significant difference (p<0.05) in the dietary diversity scores between the two groups. Kitchen gardening practicing households had a more diversified diet compared to the non-practicing households. This could be contributed by the fact that all the households, 100%, that practiced kitchen gardening had planted more than one type of vegetable whereas majority of the participants, 71%, had more than two types of vegetables. Out of all the four indicators of sustainability, source of water was the biggest setback faced. In conclusion, kitchen gardens play a role in achieving dietary diversity of households by allowing the practicing households to have access to different varieties of vegetables grown in the gardens as well as boosting their economic ability hence improving their purchasing power of other foods. There is need to target men in the promotion of kitchen gardens and to find long lasting solution to ensure water availability for sustenance of kitchen gardens in this climatic zone.