Homestead Food Production

En français

Homestead Food Production (HFP) helps communities establish technically improved local food production systems by creating gardens with micronutrient-rich fruits and vegetables year-round as well as small farms for poultry and livestock. The fruits and vegetables ensure the availability of vitamins and minerals essential for proper immune system function and full physical, intellectual and cognitive development, while eggs, poultry and other animal foods support the body's ability to utilize the micronutrients. HFP also provides families with income from the sale of surplus goods, empowers women, and increases the technical knowledge and capacity of local non-governmental organizations (NGOs). HKI has implemented HFP in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Niger, Nepal and the Philippines.

HKI provides technical and managerial support as well as start-up inputs, such as seeds, seedlings, saplings and chicks, to district-level local NGOs who integrate HFP into their on-going activities. Local NGO staff train farmers and help them create Village Model Gardens and Village Model Poultry Farms. In turn, these “model farmers” provide technical assistance and inputs to individual families in their villages. HKI also provides nutrition education that focuses on dietary diversity and child and maternal nutrition, cooking classes, and training on agricultural and poultry production.

In addition to food that improves nutritional status, HFP often provides surplus produce that becomes a small but vital source of income to families. This additional income helps families move out of poverty and gain economic independence. Program evaluations indicate this income is most often spent on other high-quality food items, and that income-generation has been sustained after HKI's direct support has phased out.

HFP also empowers women who organize 90% of the gardens and are able to contribute to the economic stability of the family and associate with other farmers. According to the Country Director of HKI Bangladesh, "investments in homestead gardens provide huge returns to empower the most valuable resource in Bangladesh: women working tirelessly for their families." These women also tend to make sure that their children consume the nutritious vegetables grown in the gardens. Studies have shown, in fact, that children in households with developed gardens consume 1.6 times more vegetables and have a lower risk of night blindness than children in homes without homestead gardens.

A recent study on HKI's HFP programs in Bangladesh, Nepal, Cambodia and the Philippines documented annual fruit and vegetable production at more than 216,000 metric tons which is the equivalent of US$46.28 million per year. The program has created 190,000 jobs in the rural areas of these countries, which primarily benefit poorer households, especially women. The cost per garden is estimated at US$ 9.