Perceptions on barriers and facilitators of vegetable consumption in the rural households of South Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

Background In Ethiopia, limited dietary diversity is one of the major challenges and causes of malnutrition. Vegetable consumption leads to improved diet diversity and nutrient utilization, which, in turn, reduces morbidity and mortality. The study was conducted to explore perceptions on barriers and facilitators of vegetable consumption in the rural households of Southern Tigray, Ethiopia.Methods Qualitative information was collected from 34 in-depth interviews with pregnant and lactating mothers, local leaders, and experts, and 9 focus group discussions with mothers, fathers, and elders who were knowledgeable about people’s feeding habits and practices. The interviews and discussions were tape-recorded, transcribed, translated into English, and analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis techniques using Atlas.ti qualitative data analysis software.Results Barriers influencing consumption of vegetables fall under four major themes, namely limited availability and accessibility to vegetables; limited knowledge on nutritious vegetables and nutrition-sensitive agricultural programs; socio-economic factors; and market-oriented production. Similarly, awareness of the benefits of vegetables and improved access to agricultural inputs were found to be the facilitators for vegetable consumption.Conclusions Vegetables are not consumed as a regular household diet due to barriers related to production, awareness, economic, and social factors. Intensifying efforts to improve access to irrigation water, vegetable seeds, continuous training and follow up of vegetable production and consumption, building the capacity of development agents and experts on effective implementation of nutrition sensitive agriculture programs would help rural households to solve the problems of morbidity and mortality, which are attributed to low consumption of vegetables.