Gender, Nutrition Information Acquisition, and Dietary Diversity: Empirical Evidence from Rural Households in Zimbabwe

Acquisition of nutrition information is crucial for enhancing dietary diversity among rural residents, yet the potential gender differences in its impact remain underexplored. This study investigates the gender-differentiated effects of nutrition information acquisition on the dietary diversity of rural households. Specifically, we consider the nutrition information acquired from mostly women village health workers and distinguish rural households headed or dominated by women and men. Households dominated by women refer to those in which the proportion of women over 18 is more than half the number of household members. An endogenous switching regression model with a count outcome variable addresses self-selection bias from observed and unobserved factors and estimates data from a nationally rural survey in Zimbabwe. The results indicate that households headed by women are more likely to obtain nutrition information, whereas households dominated by women are less likely to acquire such information. Nutrition information acquisition significantly improves dietary diversity. From a gender perspective, the impact of acquiring nutrition information on dietary diversity is more significant for rural households headed or dominated by women compared to those headed or dominated by men. Our findings underscore the crucial role of acquiring nutrition information from mostly women village health workers in enhancing dietary diversity. Particular policy attention and support should be directed towards disseminating nutrition information to rural households, especially those headed by women or where women play a dominant role.