2011. One Billion Hungry People: Can Home Garden Gardens be a Solution?
Special August 2011 Newsletter: Nutrition and Home Garden Resources
Center for Sustainable Development
THIS MONTH'S NEWS
| August Newsletter: Special Nutrition and Home Gardening Issue |
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Malnutrition is one of the most serious challenges in development today. Tonight, over one billion people will go to bed hungry—up from 800 million in 2009. Scientific studies have shown that home gardens can provide 60% of leafy vegetables, and between 20% and 50% of all fruits and vegetables consumed by households. Home vegetable gardens have shown evidence of significantly reducing the number of malnourished children in impoverished communities; Improved nutrition boosts the body's immune system protecting children against infection.Many home gardeners are also able to sell surplus fruits and vegetables and increase family income.
This month we are providing hands-on nutrition & home gardening resources and examples of their use.
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| Resources for Nutrition and Home Gardening Projects |
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Links To Documents And Sites Specific To This Course: OL 303: Food Security, Nutrition, and Home Gardens.
Healthy Harvest: A training manual for community workers in good nutrition, and the growing, preparing and processing of healthy food. Zimbabwe. Low Input Food and Nutrition Security: There is a very good information in this book that connects nutrition to the practicalities of home gardening. Malawi. Garden Africa - Permaculture Trainers Manual: A very thorough training manual by a great NGO with offices in London and projects in Southern Africa. South Africa. Royal Horticultural society: Growing Vegetables. Step-by-step, simple instructions for over 60 common vegetables. UK.
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| Victory Gardens in England: See photos and lists of vegetables grown in an English garden. | |
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Family vegetable garden allotments have been being used in England since the 1700s. During WW II Victory Garden days, families were given a 10 yard by 30 yard (today they are measured in meters) standard plot: large enough to provide vegetables for a family of 4. Tim Magee has been able to visit two allotments in England over the past 10 days—one in Manchester—and one in Coventry. Explore the Manchester site. Explore the Coventry site .
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| August Project of the Month: Sustainable Food Security through a Farmer Field School and Home Gardens in Kenya |
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120 families from three villages in Kenya suffer from food insecurity caused by dated farming skills & malnutrition due to a lack of knowledge of nutrition & of home gardens in providing food diversity. These challenges reduce the ability for 300 children to attend school & for adults to lead productive lives.
CSDi Kenyan partner John Odongo launched a project designed to increase food security for these families through a Farmer Field School, and a Nutrition and Home Garden Program.
Read John's report on conducting a nutrition survey in his community.
Read John's report on a raised bed workshop with photos. Read John's report on vegetable garden successes and challenges. |
| To learn about other student projects in real time, please visit our Facebook Page or CSDi Development Community to see their postings—or our Field Projects page for in-depth project information. | |
| Join us on September 6 for an intensive series of courses with other students from all over the world. | |
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Are you a donor, a development practitioner, in a job transition, or a student who wants to learn more about what works in designing impact-oriented projects? Online course participants are using our courses to develop real, on-the-ground projects with real communities—both individually and through North/South student partnerships.
Our online courses use each class assignment as a concrete step in developing a real project within a real community. You will take an assignment into the field and use it as a solution-oriented activity that you do together with community members—thereby finishing one component of the project you are developing in the class. And there you have it: an online field course with tangible, concrete results.
Visit Online Learning to see a listing of Fall Quarter courses.
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What's happening in the region where you live?
Please write us with your stories, thoughts and comments through Online.Learning@csd-i.org or post them at the Development Community, at our Facebook Page, or on the Center’s Blog.
Be sure to visit CSDi’s Development Community. Join 500 colleagues in sharing resources & collaborating online.
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I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Tim Magee, Executive Director
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The Center for Sustainable Development specializes in providing sound, evidence-based information, tools and training for humanitarian development professionals worldwide. CSDi is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
