Does Nutrition Education Influence Retention of Vitamin a Bio-fortified Orange-fleshed Sweet Potato in Farms Evidence From Kenya

Abstract

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) still remains a major nutritional concern in Sub-Saharan Africa. Orange-Fleshed Sweet potato (OFSP) is bio-fortified with Vitamin A and has been globally recognized as the best food-based approach to combat the VAD menace. However, sustainability of its adoption is in question as many farmers still depend on free vines dissemination programs. This paper assessed the immediate effects of providing integrated nutrition education interventions, through different entry points, on the households’ retention of the crop on their farms. Primary data were collected from three randomized nutrition education approaches in a controlled experiment with 360 preschooler-caregiver pairs in 15 villages in Homa Bay County, Kenya. A binary logit and special regressor model were employed to estimate the treatment effects. The results show that channeling nutrition education through single entry points do not have significant immediate effects on replanting of OFSP. Conversely, providing nutrition education to both preschool children and their caregivers substantially increases the households’ likelihood to retain OFSP after phase-out of the free-vines dissemination programs. Integrating nutrition education approaches simultaneously through multiple entry points may be more effective in ensuring that the households conserve the vines and grow OFSP all year round for nutrition and food security.