Inclusive Agricultural Trade Scan

Refugees and host community living in Arua district in Northern Uganda face health issues related to malnutrition and food insecurity. The Nutrition Income Generation Intervention (NIGI) aimed to achieve healthier lives and more resilient livelihoods for refugees and host communities through home gardens and increasing commercial vegetable production. This report evaluates the effect of two years of NIGI on the refugee community using a refugee comparison group. Results showed that households who participated in the project produce more, both in terms of quantity (KGs) as well as varieties of fruit and vegetables, and earn more income as a result. Those who participate in the project were twice (OR=2.19) as likely to consume vegetables. Furthermore, household dietary diversity increased with an average increase of 0.40 points for crop farmers participating in NIGI. NIGI was not able to reduce the practice of harmful coping strategies against food security. So, NIGI should be seen as a supplement to food access and as a useful strategy to diversify diets but food assistance is still of main importance for refugee households to achieve food security.