Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 9, 2025
'Boden Food Plate': Novel Interactive Web-based Method for the Assessment of Dietary Intake
Published on: September 18, 2018
Digitalisation in the WFP fresh food voucher programme: a pilot study from rural Amhara region, Ethiopia
Fazal Dad1, Filippo Dibari2, Aweke Kebede1
1WFP Ethiopia CO, Regional Bureau Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Insights
The World Food Programme's Fresh Food Voucher program in Ethiopia improved dietary diversity by enabling beneficiaries to purchase more fruits and vegetables. This intervention showed positive impacts on household food security and child nutrition.
Area of Science:
- Public Health and Nutrition
- Agricultural Economics
- Development Studies
Background:
- Malnutrition, particularly stunting in children under five, is a critical issue in Ethiopia, with the Amhara region experiencing high rates.
- Low dietary diversity and affordability of nutritious foods exacerbate malnutrition challenges in vulnerable populations.
- Cash-based transfer (CBT) programs, including fresh food vouchers, are recognized interventions to improve child growth, food security, and dietary diversity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of a restricted cash-based transfer (CBT) program utilizing fresh food vouchers (FFV) on dietary diversity in households with young children and pregnant/lactating women in rural Ethiopia.
- To assess food purchasing patterns and affordability of nutritious diets among beneficiaries of the World Food Programme (WFP) FFV intervention.
Main Methods:
- A community-based pilot study was conducted in four rural woredas of Ethiopia's Amhara region.
- A random selection of 556 beneficiaries and 12 retailers participated, with data collected using a point-of-sale (POS) system.
- Itemized food purchases, prices, and quantities were recorded to analyze dietary diversity and expenditure.
Main Results:
- Approximately 51% of beneficiaries purchased vegetables, 35% purchased fruits, and 15% purchased eggs.
- The average food expenditure met 63% of daily affordability needs for a diversified diet.
- The Fresh Food Voucher (FFV) program demonstrated effectiveness in improving access to and purchase of nutrient-rich foods.
Conclusions:
- The WFP's Fresh Food Voucher (FFV) program is a viable strategy to enhance dietary diversity and affordability in food-insecure regions.
- Point-of-sale (POS) systems, integrated with digital voucher technology, are effective for real-time data collection to inform interventions.
- Timely data can support targeted Social Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) strategies to further improve dietary diversity and combat malnutrition.
Introduction:
Malnutrition continues to pose a major challenge to human well-being around the world. In Ethiopia, 39% of children <5 years are stunted, with peaks in northern regions of the country such as Amhara (54.8%). Very few (2%) children in the region achieve the minimum dietary diversity and only a minority (27%) belong to households that can afford a nutritious diet. To tackle the high stunting rate, diets high in fruits and vegetables are widely recommended to improve dietary diversity. Programmes leveraging fresh food vouchers can be used to support vulnerable groups with malnutrition and limited affordability. Cash-based transfer (CBT) programmes have repeatedly been shown to improve child growth and increase household food security and dietary diversity. This study is part of the World Food Programme (WFP) intervention regarding a stunting reduction rural programme of restricted CBT for improving dietary diversity in households with children under 2 years of age and pregnant and lactating women.
Methods:
A community- based pilot study to assess the itemised foods purchased by beneficiaries was conducted in the four most accessible woredas of the Amhara region of Ethiopia. A total of 556 beneficiaries and 12 active retailers were selected randomly from 10 rural markets in the targeted woredas. A point of sale (POS) system was used to collect the itemised food prices and amounts of food procured by the beneficiaries.
Results And Discussion:
Approximately 51, 35, and 15% of the beneficiaries purchased vegetables, fruits, and eggs, respectively. Prices, taste preferences of children, and shelf life determine the purchase of certain food items. The average food expenditure was 49 Ethiopian Birr (ETB; US$ 0.94), representing the 63 and 37% daily and monthly requirements, respectively, for affordability. The higher increase in prices of some food items might be due to their seasonality. Almost half of the Fresh Food Voucher (FFV) beneficiaries were purchasing and consuming vegetables. The finding indicates that the WFP fresh food voucher programme contributes 63% (49 ETB, US$ 0.94) and 37% (837 ETB, US$ 16.1) of the daily and monthly needs of affordability, respectively, for a diversified nutritious diet. The use of Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) technology in the WFP digital voucher under the Fresh Food Voucher (FFV) project was effective at collecting itemised prices of foods purchased by the beneficiaries. The point of sale (POS) system can be scaled up under the Fresh Food Voucher (FFV) programme so that the digital voucher can contain the itemised food prices. Timely data from the point of sale could be used for timely Social Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) development to improve dietary diversity.
