Determinants of household dietary diversity in rural Ethiopia: A household panel study

Background: Diet diversification ensures nutritional security and hence helps in meeting nutrient requirements in humans. Despite its importance, diet diversification remains a challenge, especially in rural communities in developing countries. This study aimed to identify the determinants of DD in rural Ethiopia.Methods: In this study, we used an agricultural and nutrition household panel data. This study collected data from 1200 households twice a year for two years in nine districts. The household dietary diversity score (HDDS) was used as the outcome measure. Several potential demographic, social, economic, and geographic determinants of HDDS were assessed. Mixed effects truncated Poisson regression was used to identify which of these determinants were associated with HDDS at household level.Result: The HDDS value ranged from 1 to 10 with a mean of 5.52 and standard deviation (SD) of 1.54. A unit increment in the variety of crop production gave a 3.4% [95% CI: 1.9%, 4.9%,] increase in relative change (RC) of HDDS. A birr increases in income generated from livestock products resulted in a 2.6% [1.5%, 3.7%] increase in RC of HDDS. The post-harvesting season contributed to a 6.4% [3.6%, 9.3%] increase in RC of HDDS compared to the pre-harvesting. Households headed by a woman had an HDDS that was-7.9% [-12.5%, - 3.3%] lower in RC of HDDS than male-lead households. An additional year of education of the household head resulted in a 1.2% [0.7%, 1.7%] increase in RC of HDDS. As the mean women's decision-making score increased by one point, the RC in HDDS increased by 3.8% [1.1%, 6.4%]. No significant association was found between the time taken to reach local markets and HDDS. Conclusion: This study identified economic, educational, social, and seasonal factors associated with HDDS, which should be considered when planning interventions aimed at improving HDDS in rural Ethiopia or elsewhere.