The food and nutritional insecurity were prevalent much before COVID-19 in Bihar. The current pandemic has made it more severe. The state has a 72.7% death rate attributable to malnutrition in children younger than five years, compared to the national average of 69.2%. This state-wide data on malnutrition was presented by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN).

Even in COVID-19 Lookdown, the situation of Sheela Devi from Pepritola of Jhunnikal Panchayat, Srinagar Block of Purnea brings pleasantry to the ears. She says that “I am glad that during this lockdown period I can add nutrition value to my family’s meal with the help of the kitchen garden. I have worked hard in taking care of the plants and now I do not have to worry about the green vegetables as it is right here”

Sheela Devi works as the Educator of the Roshni Suposhan Program of Purnea. She is part of the program for the last 1 year. Her husband is an animator in PSES Program Team. During this difficult time, where everyone in her village feels helpless and stressed about the situation, Sheela Devi stands confident and does her bit in spreading awareness on COVID 19 in her hamlet.

In March, PSES Team has distributed vegetable seeds of Bottle guards, Sponge guards, Cucumber, bitter gourd, and Okra among the community for their Kitchen-garden. While distributing, the coordinator collected Rs 20 from every recipient as security money. The reason being, last year when the seed was distributed among the community, most of them did not use as it was free. Therefore, the coordinator Archna came up with this initiative so that the recipients take responsibility and value it. The community supported this idea and paid the security money.

Sheela Devi planted all the seeds in her backyard, her family supported in taking care of the plants. She also planted other vegetable seeds from her own. And now they can consume the green healthy vegetable during this period of crisis. Not just her, other community members are also getting the benefit from their kitchen garden. Sheela Devi, being an educator, promotes kitchen garden and appeal to stay healthy by keeping their meals nutritious and balanced.

In Feb 2020, the Project Coordinator had an interfaced meeting with BDO of Srinagar Block, Mr. Om Prakash. She shared the initiative being taken by PSES for the promotion of Kitchen Garden. Mr. Prakash appreciated the team’s effort and said that he is interested to see the results. “Next time when your team distributes the seeds and orients the community on the kitchen garden, please let me know, I will try to be there”, said Mr. Prakash. These words of motivation boosted the confidence of the team and they shared this news with the community. They decided to visit BDO office with the vegetables grown at their garden but could not due to Lockdown

The motivational words from BDO mean a lot to the community and they continue to care for their kitchen garden to maintain nutritional sufficiency in their family’s diet.