Vegetables for All Project in Uganda

Background: In Uganda, the goal of GAIN's 'Vegetables for All' project is to contribute to improving the dietary diversity of Ugandans through increased consumption of safe vegetables and greater use of vegetables in Ugandan cuisine, increasing the percentage of bottom-of-the-pyramid (BoP) consumers with more adequate diets. The 'Vegetables for All' project has components focused on generating demand for safe and fresh vegetables, improving access to safe and fresh vegetables, and improving the enabling environment to support the policy and regulatory environment within which vegetable value chains function. The project resonates with Uganda's programs and interventions for preventing diet-related non-communicable diseases (DR-NCDs). Further, few evaluations of integrated nutrition and food systems programs have been conducted globally. Therefore, an evaluation of such a program would generate insights that could inform policies and program initiatives for preventing DR-NCDs in Uganda and in other contexts.

Objective: The overall objectives of the evaluation are: 1) To assess the change in the quantity (grams) of vegetables consumed in the last 24 hours before and after GAIN's Vegetables for All Project by women and children 3-9 years in BoP households in the intervention versus control areas in the study districts; 2) To assess the effect of the Vegetables for All project on secondary outcomes in BoP households in intervention versus control areas in study districts; 3) to assess the effect of the Vegetables for All project on knowledge, attitudes, and intentions related to vegetable consumption in BoP households in the intervention versus control areas in study districts; and 4) To conduct a program impact pathway analysis that will provide information that GAIN can use to adapt their program at midline and that will help support the findings of the impact evaluation at endline.

Methods: This evaluation will use a mixed-methods quasi-experimental design in which 136 FFZs are assigned to intervention or control groups across four districts. The impacts will be assessed through cross-sectional population-based surveys of households with women 18-49 years who have a child 3-9 years in the selected FFZs at baseline and endline (N=1,360 at each time point). Vegetable vendor surveys will be conducted in all 136 sampled FFZs at baseline and endline (N=408 at each time point). Qualitative data will be collected at midline and endline. In-depth interviews (IDIs) will be conducted with vegetable value chain actors and other stakeholders (N=16 at endline) and household members (16 FGDs at endline). The analysis will be performed using difference-in-difference estimation (surveys) and thematic content analysis methods (qualitative). A PIP analysis will be conducted at endline using a combination of qualitative and quantitative data to help understand the pathways through which the program achieved its impact.