Scale up of Enhanced Homestead Food Production in Cambodia

University of British Columbia

Status: Unknown

Conditions: Food Supply

Treatments: Behavioral: Control group; Behavioral: EHFP group

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02786368

H15-00720

Details and patient eligibility

About

This project is a delayed pragmatic delayed-intervention cluster randomized control study in a subset of households (n=600) enrolled in a larger scale up program of enhanced homestead food production (EHFP) in Cambodia. The trial is designed to evaluate the impact of EHFP (home gardens only; home garden and fishponds; home gardens and poultry) versus control group on dietary intake of women and youngest child, household food security, income, and production throughout the agricultural cycle. Following administration of the baseline survey 300 households will be randomized to the EHFP package of their choosing (Intervention Group) for two years. The other 300 households will not receive any intervention during the first year and will act as the control group; data will be collected monthly on production and income generated from gardening (and other homestead food production activities) and at two points throughout the year 24-hour dietary recall data will be collected from the women head of the household (aged 15-49y) and the youngest child between the ages of 6 - 59 months. After one year, the control group will be offered the intervention (EHFP package of their choice) fully subsidized and the project team will collect identical data on intervention group for one year as described for the control group.

Full description

Cambodia's economy has improved remarkably in the last decade, yet 80% of households experience some form of poverty, and 20% are severely impoverished. Food insecurity and its sequelae remain a problem, especially among rural farmers. As a solution Helen Keller International (HKI) implements a Enhanced Homestead Food Production (EHFP) model in Cambodia. EHFP, focusing on women farmers, fosters year-round environmentally sustainable production of nutrient-rich fruits, vegetables and animal-source foods. The program provides initial farming inputs coupled with technical assistance, nutrition education, and training on marketing and gender equity.

In 2012, HKI together with the University of British Columbia (UBC), conducted a 22-month randomized control trial of EHFP, known as 'Fish on Farms'. Using HKI's approach, 900 women farmers were randomized to three groups: 1) plant-based EHFP; 2) EHFP plus fishponds; or 3) a control. Remarkably, in less than two years working with women farmers, Fish on Farms established 300 fishponds and 600 gardens. In the fishponds, small nutrient-rich fish were raised for household consumption and larger fish were raised for consumption or sale. After two years, households in both EHFP arms saw improvements in food production, income generation, food security, dietary diversity, and dietary intake of certain micronutrients relative to the control. However, the randomized-control trial (RCT) approach did have a number of issues, and gaps that need to be addressed were identified. Attrition was high, perhaps in part because of better opportunities for women, but also because women were not given a choice in the type of HFP activity to participate in. Further, the project provided many inputs for free so the women were not as invested as they might have otherwise been. Other issues identified were a lack of market access for sale of produce and fish, gender inequities, and a need to better capture the seasonality of food production and consumption at the household level.

Building on lessons learned from the pilot study (Fish on Farms), this pragmatic delayed-intervention cluster randomized control study includes rigorous monitoring of production throughout the agricultural cycle as well as multiple 24-hour dietary recalls with improved methodology and frequency to better capture dietary intake. Women are self-selecting to participate, and are provided access to micro-credit institutions or other cost-sharing options so that women have a greater financial stake in EHFP leading to more successful farmers. Participants will also able to select from more EHFP options that include home gardens, poultry and fish.

The ultimate goal of the program is to provide evidence of an integrated model of EHFP that has scalability and sustainability to improve the livelihoods of Cambodians and possibly the larger region.

Enrollment: 1,318 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 6 to 59 months old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Women of reproductive age (15-49 y)
• Child aged 6 - 59 months
• Demonstrate a willingness to cost-share on EHFP inputs
• Have suitable land for Enhanced Homestead Food Production activities

Exclusion criteria

• Not meeting the above inclusion criteria

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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1,318 participants in 2 patient groups

Control group

Other group

Description:

For year one, this arm will receive no intervention. Usual agriculture production and income will be assessed monthly for one year. Additionally, every season (twice yearly), household food security and usual dietary intake of woman of reproductive age (WRA) and their child aged 6-59 mo will also be collected. After one year of implementation, this group will be offered the Enhanced Homestead Food Production package fully subsidized, as well as training on nutrition, WASH, gender and business/marketing.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Control group

EHFP group

Experimental group

Description:

Households will receive training and inputs for an Enhanced Homestead Food Production (EHFP) package. Participants will also receive educational components through inter-personal behavioural change communication on nutrition (Essential Nutrition Actions), Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), gender, and business/marketing.

Treatment:

Behavioral: EHFP group