Can governments promote homestead gardening at scale? Evidence from Ethiopia

Low intake of fruits and vegetables is a major cause of micronutrient deficiencies in the developing world. Since the 1980s, various non-governmental organizations have promoted homestead gardening (HG) programs, first in Asia, but now increasingly in Africa. Longstanding concerns with HG programs are: (1) they lack scalability, particularly for governments; (2) they only work in areas with/without good access to markets; and (3) they are only suitable for more water-abundant ecologies. We assess these concerns by analyzing a large and novel survey on the adoption of a nationwide HG program implemented by the Ethiopian government. We find that better market access encourages HG adoption; so too does greater public promotion of HGs, but only in more water-abundant ecologies.