Impact of a homegardening intervention on crop diversity: results from a cluster-randomized trial in Bangladesh

Abstract Homegardening has the potential to improve access to nutrient-dense foods. We evaluate the impact of a large Homestead Food Production intervention on crop species richness and homegarden management as pathway outcomes of the ‘Food and Agricultural Approaches to Reducing Malnutrition’ (FAARM) cluster-randomized trial (NCT02505711) in rural North-eastern Bangladesh. Ninety-six settlements were allocated 1:1 to intervention (1337 women) and control arm (1368 women). During the three-year intervention (2015–2018) women received vegetable seeds and training in homegardening, poultry rearing, and nutrition. We assessed number and type of harvested garden crop species at baseline and every four months during and after the intervention, totalling 12 survey rounds. Impacts were measured overall and by year using mixed-effects linear regression. In its final year, the intervention increased the number of harvested vegetable species by 4.3 and total crop species by 6.4, more than double over control. We also saw sizable changes in production practices. Impacts were present in all seasons, consistent across gradients of wealth and education and maintained up to 2.5 years post-intervention when they seemed to spill over to controls. This study provides rigorous evidence that homegardening can have sustained positive impacts on year-round diversity of nutrient-rich garden crops produced by households.