Low dietary diversity in the rural household is a major problem in developing countries due to different factors. The aim of this study is to assess dietary diversity level and its associated factors among indigenous and nonindigenous households in Bambasi district, Western Ethiopia. A cross sectional data which covered a sample of 260 households collected using a semi structured interview schedule. A multi stage sampling procedure was used. A household dietary diversity score based on 12 food groups was created using seven days recalls. A descriptive statistics analysis was applied. An order logistic regression model was used to determine the factors that influence both indigenous and nonindigenous household dietary diversity. The result of the study revealed that indigenous household had better dietary diversity status than nonindigenous household heads. Age of the household heads, access to extension and access to nearest markets are the major determinants of rural households in the area. Despite of this, access to credit, farm income, farm size and dependency ratio are the major determinants for nonindigenous household heads whereas participation in small scale irrigation and education are major factors of dietary diversity of the indigenous household heads. Therefore, we recommended that food and nutrition interventions focusing on improving dietary diversity and quality should due attention to develop community specific interventions instead of generalized interventions. However, further investigation focused on seasonal dietary diversity and individual level dietary diversity of the study area.
Keywords: Bambasi Ethiopia, Dietary diversity, Indigenous and Non-indigenous Household, Ordered logit model
