Regenerative agriculture, knowledge diffusion, and dietary outcomes among smallholders in Kenya

Regenerative agriculture (RA) is increasingly promoted globally as a pathway to improve smallholder livelihoods and food systems. However, empirical evidence on how RA implementation affects household nutrition outcomes, and through which pathways, remains limited. In this study, we examine the association between RA implementation and household dietary outcomes among smallholder farmers in Kenya. We use primary empirical data from 949 households across two contrasting agroecological contexts and apply a sequential mixed-methods approach integrating descriptive analysis, multivariable regression, and qualitative insights from 14 focus group discussions, 33 interviews and a stakeholder workshop. We measure dietary outcomes using household dietary diversity (HDDS 12 and HDDS 9) and food consumption scores (FCS). Results show that RA implementation is positively associated with household nutrition outcomes. Both peer-trained and NGO-trained implementers exhibit significantly higher dietary diversity relative to non-adopters, with robust associations across different model specifications. Additionally, NGO-trained implementation is associated with higher food consumption scores. In contrast, no significant differences are observed in food expenditure, indicating that dietary differences are not primarily driven by increased purchasing power. Post-estimation tests further show no significant differences between peer-led and NGO-led knowledge transfer pathways, implying nutrition benefits do not depend strongly on the modality of knowledge transfer. Instead, the findings were more consistent with production-based pathways, particularly greater on-farm diversity and reduced reliance on market purchases. Income-mediated pathways are also of less importance. These findings highlight the potential for scalable, cost-effective dissemination strategies leveraging farmer-to-farmer diffusion and locally embedded knowledge systems in smallholder contexts.