Kitchen Gardening

Among the rural poor, home gardening is a strategic way to improve food production and household nutrition. Home gardens, with their intensive and multiple uses, can provide a safety net for poor families, especially during a period of food shortage. Thus they offer exceptional opportunities for food-based approaches to prevent malnutrition and food insecurity. In addition, home gardening may expand the income-generating opportunities of smallholders, particularly women, especially if connected to the increasing food demands of growing urban populations and to value-adding activities

Project Objectives
This project aims to address the food insecurity of poor households affected by disability. To achieve this, the project will aim to: i) provide inputs and small adapted equipment to enhance the productivity of traditional kitchen gardens; ii) introduce and demonstrate intensification technologies and integrated/mixed gardens; iii) build the capacity of smallholders in production planning/technologies and value-adding activities; and iv) link and network beneficiaries with local extension and support service providers.
Within the defined areas, the project will assist 10 000 poor households (including single female-headed households) with small plots contiguous to their housing. The availability of time and labour force to care for the kitchen gardens will be essential.

4. Planned activities

The main activities of the project will consist of the following:

- Providing seeds (vegetable), seedlings (fruit trees, edges), small plastic tunnels, small-scale drip irrigation systems and small equipment/tools to enhance the productivity of traditional kitchen gardens.

- Establishment of demonstration plots, integrated/mixed kitchen gardens that will integrate living fences (for fodder, fuel wood), small animal breeding units (i.e. poultry), compost making, collecting/recycling water systems and diversified vegetable/fruit production. The technology demonstrated will be based on: locally available materials in order to promote replicable and affordable approaches; and improving/reviving traditional practices that have shown their effectiveness. The demonstration gardens will be used to build the capacity of beneficiaries and spread the technology on a broader scale.

- Raising awareness and building the capacity of beneficiaries to enhance the productivity of their gardens using simple, affordable and appropriate technologies. In addition to arranging demonstration days in the pilot plots (demonstration gardens), the project will also organize an exchange of experience/capacity building workshops. Main topics will include the establishment of improved kitchen gardens, production planning, cropping techniques, home processing, compost making, water collection and small-scale irrigation, among others. Didactic material (i.e. leaflets, brochures) will be edited and distributed, illustrating the appropriate technologies.

- Linking and networking with extension and support services. Existing extension services, farmer field schools, agricultural service providers will be involved in delivering training and continuous technical follow-up to beneficiaries in order to ensure successful production and to establish sustainable relationships for continuous technical assistance and advisory services.

Project expected outputs

At the end of the project, the following outputs are expected:

- 100 disabled households have benefited from direct support and improved the productivity of their kitchen gardens;

- at least 100 disabled households have improved their food security and enhanced their income;

- at least 100 persons with disabilities (PwDs) have been trained in best practices for kitchen garden management;

- 2 demonstration plots, integrated/mixed gardens, are established and constitute a location for a continuous exchange of experience, demonstration days and capacity building;

- improved and appropriate technologies are demonstrated and disseminated in the project areas; and

- local extension and support services are promoting improved kitchen gardens and are offering continuous and regular support to the rural population.