Rural consumers' perceptions of healthy diet in postwar Tigrai: Survey data evidence

Policy discourse on sustainability and health at the global scale emphasizes healthy diets as key aspects preventing malnutrition in all its forms and the need for dietary transitions. Knowledge about perceptions of healthy diets among rural communities is essential for better targeting of public health and nutritional campaigns addressing malnutrition. The current paper investigates consumers’ perceptions of healthy diet among rural communities in Ethiopia. It also tries to estimate their propensities to consume (i.e., include in their household diets) novel and/or new local food products. Key questions constitute what factors are associated to the different perceptions of healthy diet? That is, why do some rural consumers view healthy diet this way while others view it another way? What determines the likelihoods to diversify their diets? The results suggest that their perceptions of healthy diet are influenced by a series of sociodemographic characteristics as well as contextual and environmental factors. And so do their propensities. An important policy implication would be starting with the villages that favorably view the nutritional intervention.