Home gardening support to Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh – a report on a baseline survey

The number of people displaced by conflict and natural disasters around the world has risen greatly in recent years, and ensuring that they can earn income and access quality food is an ongoing challenge. To address this, programs are increasingly including vegetable production, because this can provide essential food and generate revenue. But the effectiveness of this is understudied, with hard evidence lacking on the impact of vegetable interventions in emergency settings. This study aims to fill this gap by testing the hypothesis that home gardening support for displaced people improves diet quality, income and secondary benefits.

This report includes results from a baseline survey among ethnic Rohingya people who fled Myanmar and are living in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. The survey was conducted in April 2024. The intervention group will receive vegetable seeds, organic fertilizer and tools, and training on optimal maternal, infant and young child nutrition practices and home gardening. A post-intervention (endline) survey will be conducted in 2025. The outcome variables of interest are vegetable consumption, diet quality, food security, self-esteem, and social cohesion.

The baseline survey included 1,072 women across three refugee camps. The average respondent was 28 years old, had a low level of education, and had stayed in Cox’s Bazar for nearly seven years. Many women had experience with farming and vegetable gardening in their places of origin. Half of the respondents said they already cultivated fruit or vegetables inside the camp. Gardens were 2.7 m² on average and not very diverse in terms of crop species, with produce consumed rather than sold. Gardens were, therefore, not a significant source of fruit and vegetables for households, who depended primarily on purchased food. Respondents acknowledged that the lack of seeds, knowledge and tools hindered their gardening ability.

A comparison of means between women with and without a home garden showed that women with gardens more frequently consumed vegetables, consumed a greater diversity of them, and had a slightly higher Dietary Diversity Score. However, the household food insecurity experience scale showed that gardeners experience more food insecurity than non-gardeners. However, results were not corrected for selection bias and would need to be confirmed at the endline.

Nearly all women already ate vegetables daily and included vegetables in two-thirds of their meals, though only half of the women ate fruit, yet 86% of women reached minimum dietary diversity (MDD-W). The Diet Diversity Score (DSS) was 6.1 (on a scale from 0 to 10). Women’s knowledge of food and nutrition had much room for improvement. The post-intervention survey is planned for the first half of 2025.

For more information, read the report, available here.

Ignowski L, Schreinemachers P, Maniruzzaman M, Kopplow R, Uddin M, Mwambi M. 2024. Home gardening support to Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh: a baseline survey. Publication No. 24-1086. World Vegetable Center, Shanhua, Tainan, Taiwan. 18pp.

Funding for this research was provided by USAID Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance, and long-term strategic donors to the World Vegetable Center: Taiwan, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), Germany, Thailand, Philippines, UK, Korea, and Japan.