Impact of permagarden intervention on improving fruit and vegetable intake among vulnerable groups in an urban setting of Ethiopia: A quasi-experimental study

Background Increasing nutrient intake through home gardening is a sustainable way to address multiple micronutrient deficiencies in developing countries. This study investigated the impact of permagarden intervention in increasing the frequency and diversity of vegetable and fruit consumption among vulnerable families in seven cities of Ethiopia. Method A quasi-experimental study was conducted from August 10 to September 30, 2015. A total of 884 care givers (427 from intervention and 457 from control) participated in the study. Data were collected through face to face interviews with caregivers of highly vulnerable children. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used as implemented in STATA software. Program impact on the frequency and diversity of households' fruit and vegetable consumption between intervention and control groups was assessed using chi square test. Results Intervention participants had a 13% higher increase in frequency of vegetable and fruit consumption compared with control participants (p<0.01). Diversity (consumption of 2 or more groups of vegetable and fruit) is higher among intervention groups than control groups (percentage difference = 9, p-value<0.05). A significant higher percentage of participants in intervention group reported getting the one-week vegetable and fruit mainly from their own garden (percentage difference 58.3%, p<0.05). A significantly larger proportion of participants in the intervention group compared to control group reported "high likelihood" on intention to grow vegetables in the future (percentage difference = 30%, and P<0.01). Perceived importance to include vegetable in everyday meal was higher among intervention group participants than control group participants (percentage difference = 11.5%, P<0.01). Conclusions The observed higher FV intake among permagarden intervention group compared to control group suggest that nutrition and health programs need to promote permagarden as a means to improve FV intake among vulnerable societies in resource limited countries.