Underutilised Indigenous Vegetables for Household Dietary Diversity in Southwest Nigeria

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.