Vegetable gardens to combat malnutrition in Tanzania Dr. Ralph Roothaert, Radegunda Kessy and Sally Moonga 27 June 2018 East, Central and Southern Africa Health Community The 11th ECSA Best Practices Forum and 27th Directors Joint Consultative Committee Meeting, Arusha, Tanzania Slide 1 (6/2018)
Background Slide 2 (6/2018)
Mission of the World Vegetable Center Alleviating poverty and malnutrition in the developing world through the increased production and consumption of nutritious and health-promoting vegetables flagship 1: vegetable diversity and improvement flagship 2: safe & sustainable value chains flagship 3: healthy diets flagship 4: enabling impact Slide 3 (6/2018)
Per capita fruit/vegetables consumption to 2030 2000 2000 2030 change WHO recommends 146 kg or 400 g/day WHO recommended 146 kg kg/person/year Slide 4 (6/2018) Source: Msangi and Rosegrant 2011. Feeding the Future s Changing Diets.
The power of traditional vegetables - recommended nutrient intakes (RNI) and % RNI contributed per 100 g of food item Protein Vitamin A Iron Folate Zinc Calcium Vitamin E RNI for pregnant women (1 st trimester) g μg RE mg μg mg mg mg -TE 60 800 30 600 11 1000 7.5 percentage of RNI - - - ------------------% ----------------------------- rice 0 0 1 2 4 0 0 cassava (root) 12 0 1 5 3 2 0 millet 18 0 2 14 8 0 0 meat (chicken) 37 0 3 1 14 1 3 mungbean 40 2 22 104 24 13 7 vegetable soybean 18 2 13 28 13 4 78 cabbage 3 1 1 10 2 4 2 tomato 2 18 1 3 2 1 7 slippery cabbage 6 106 5 30-177 11 18 58 moringa leaves 7 146 11 49 5 10 65 amaranth 9 160 6 31 6 32 17 jute mallow 10 198 12 21 0 36 36 nightshade 8 101 13 10 9 21 28 vegetable cowpea leaves 8 193 6 27 3 54 101 RNI source: FAO/WHO 2004; RNI for iron with low bioavailability; RNI for zinc with medium bioavailability Nutrient data source: USDA nutrient database, AVRDC IV nutrient data, and literature Slide 5 (6/2018)
Flagship Program - Healthy Diets Innovation clusters (objectives) Product packages Outcomes (measurable) Impact 1. Demand for quality vegetables 2. Gardens for nutrition Q D S S 1.1 Dietary gap analysis and improvement 1.2 Nudging behavioral change 2.1 Capacity strengthening and scaling for rural and urban household gardens 2.2 Business models for seed kits Improved consumption of diverse and quality diet Sustainable seed supply and availability of vegetables Improved nutritional status. Slide 6 (6/2018)
Research question Can vegetable household gardens contribute to reduced malnutrition? Slide 7 (6/2018)
Interventions and methods Homegarden Scaling Project in Babati and Kiteto Districts and Zanzibar (n=502) MSc study in Babati District (n=40) Slide 8 (6/2018)
Theory of Change for Homegarden Scaling Primary outcomes and impact Long term impact Outcomes Women empowerment Increased income for women smallholders Access to vegetable markets Sustainable vegetable seed supply Private sector driven seed systems Local farmer seed systems More diverse and productive homegardens Improved nutritional status of small children and WCBA Increased vegetable consumption Behavioral change regarding vegetable consumption Strategies Gender campaign and Women collective action Seed kit production and distribution ( push ) Capacity building on vegetable production, post harvest and marketing ( Push ) Nutritional awareness campaigning ( pull ) Underlying problems Gender inequity Lack of knowledge and skills Dis functioning markets Low and unreliable crop production and quality Low income Lack of inputs Undernutrition, stunting, underweight Water scarcity Crop pests and diseases Slide 9 (6/2018)
1. Distribution of seed kits (push factor) Selection of varieties are based on farmers practices, evaluation, and environmental suitability Maximum 7 species or varieties per kit Enough for plots of 6 x 6 m 2 Mix of traditional and global varieties Mix of varieties for home consumption and marketing Varies per location in country, changes over time More than 12,000 households have been reached in Tanzania within 2 years Slide 10 (6/2018)
2. Training approaches (push factor) Hub-spoke demonstration gardens Community based trainers Bicycles 2-3 hub demo-gardens are established in every village Bicycles to facilitate movements of Community Based Trainers Training topics: Production Pests and diseases Water management Nutrition and hygiene Marketing Nursery techniques using seed trays and sterilized soil Saving own seed Slide 11 (6/2018)
3. Sensitization and BCC (pull factor) Sensitization There is still a big gender divide when it comes to learning opportunities. Cooking shows Introduce new foods, preserve more nutrients, convince family members by tasting. Slide 12 (6/2018)
4. MSC conceptual study: Resilience and food security among vegetable homegarden producers in Babati, Tanzania Good nutrition Food security markets Vegetable household gardens Resilience Slide 13 (6/2018)
5. Randomized Control Trial the Golden Standard of impact assessment Double difference method: With (treatment) and without (control) intervention Before project implementation (baseline) and exactly 2 years later (impact assessment) Randomization of villages that fall within the selection criteria Interviews of 500 randomly selected households from randomly selected villages 250 intervention and 250 control Repeated in three countries Parameters: households characteristics and assets vegetable production, 12 months recall small-scale vegetable production, 1 month recall vegetable consumption, 7 day recall dietary diversity, 24 hours recall decision making Slide 14 (6/2018)
Findings Slide 15 (6/2018)
Some results from the baseline study Proportion of households growing vegetables in the past one month (August 2015), estimated quantities, in Tanzania. Percentage of households: - Harvesting vegetables 32 % - Home consuming vegetables 30 % - Selling vegetables 22 % Average quantities - Harvested 115.1 kg - Lost after harvest 3.2 kg 3 % - Home consumed 8.6 kg 7 % - Sold 103.2 kg 90 % Amount of vegetables bought 15.4 kg WHO recommends consumption of 400 g vegetables and fruits per day; Average for E. Africa is 59 g per day 57 g/ day 83 g/ day Slide 16 (6/2018)
Months of food scarcity in Babati (% of households) 40.0 35.0 30.0 25.0 20.0 15.0 percentage 10.0 5.0 0.0 Jan Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Slide 17 (6/2018)
0.90 0.80 0.70 0.60 0.50 0.40 0.30 0.20 0.10 0.00 Constraints to vegetable production Household gardens commercial plots Slide 18 (6/2018)
Pests and diseases Aphids Spider mites Safe for producers and consumers. Mildew What are the appropriate dosages? Tithnia diversifolia Azadirachta indica Slide 19 (6/2018)
Water availability challenge Sack gardens and keyhole gardens use space and water more efficiently Slide 20 (6/2018)
Knowledge gained and lessons learned Household gardens are an important source of nutrient dense vegetables. Impact pathway through home consumption as well as increased income. Demand and supply strategies towards increased veg. consumption. Consumption of vegetables in Tanzania is only 129 g per capita per day. This occurred during a period of no food scarcity. More research is needed about temporal variation of home produced consumption versus purchased vegetables throughout the year. Pesticides made from of locally available plant extracts, soap and bicarbonate are safe for humans and reduce damage by insects and diseases Water saving technologies are essential for household gardens in dry areas. Slide 21 (6/2018)
Acknowledgements USAID BFS - Feed the Future Hellen Keller International HORTI-Tengeru District Councils: Babati and Kiteto Zanzibar Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources, Livestock and Fisheries Slide 22 (6/2018)