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Kitchen Gardening: Practices and
Introduction K itchen gardening is the one of the ways in which anyone can manage wastewater and spare land available in the household. A backyard kitchen garden not only yields fresh vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers, but also adds value to the household’s nutrition. It reduces the household’s expenditure on produce, and the surplus can be sold to earn additional income.The DA Group has been supporting the efforts of Bundlekhand residents to improve the quality of their households’ nutrition as well as their livelihood generation opportunities as part of the Domogore Model Watershed ICRISAT project, which began in the year 2009, and is scheduled to continue until 2014. Mobilising participation in the villages of Dhikoli, Nayakheda and Domogore, the work on kitchen gardens was funded by the participants themselves, under the guidance and motivation of Development Alternatives Group. Wire fencing for the gardens was funded under the Arhgyam Project. Aims/Objectives The aim of the kitchen/nutritional garden is to economically empower rural communities, particularly women, to improve their livelihood prospects and ensure long-term food security and gender equality in a region where a major part of agricultural activity is male-dominated. Kitchen gardening is one of the
easiest ways to fulfil nutritional demands with food that contains
adequate macro and micronutrients at a very reasonable cost, with just a
small amount of manual work. It is important to rural areas, where
communities have limited income sources and market access. Gardening can enhance food security in several ways, including: · Direct access to a diversity of nutritionally rich foods· Savings for the household economy · Fall-back food provision during seasonal lean periodsA well-developed kitchen garden has the potential, when access to land and water is not a major limitation, to supply most of the non-staple foods that a family needs every day of the year. The DA Group undertakes the following actions in facilitating the Kitchen Garden scheme: · Engaging in participatory analysis of skills and traditional practices with the community· Clarifying the benefits of kitchen gardening to community members · Motivating the community to practice kitchen gardening · Providing kitchen garden capacity building and training · Giving recommendations regarding seed and fertiliser doses during the application process · Providing technical know-how and training on efficient irrigation processes
The main prospects that emerged as part of the learning outlined below: · The first follows the agricultural cycle. This garden is seen as a place for experimental learning that not only fulfils women’s nutritional security, but also goes beyond this aim in motivating learning about agricultural complexity. The benefits of the kitchen garden are not restricted to women, they ensure an entire family’s nutritional security. Different crop growth cycles are used to represent the need for short-term, medium-term and long-term aims and planning in one’s own life. · Agricultural conservation and protection of the natural environment are covered by the training provided that includes intercropping as well as locally available natural pest management and labour-saving practices. Government schemes that support the development of kitchen gardening comprise: · Nirmal Vatika · Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Programme · Kitchen Garden Opportunities and Learning The concept of the kitchen garden needs to be scaled up in rural areas to ensure nutritional security for each rural household. It also requires convergence with government schemes. An open plot of land in the backyard of a house, adequate exposure to sunlight and the availability of wastewater drained out after domestic use are the only prerequisites for establishing a kitchen garden. Therefore, a kitchen garden is not a costly investment for any rural household, and is a readily available means of managing wastewater and optimally using the household’s land. q
Alok Prabhat Nag
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