Food security continues to be a matter of grave concern for India. Despite being the second-largest producer of food, India is home to the world’s second-largest undernourished population (195.9 million). The Government of India has taken significant steps for providing food security and combating malnutrition over the past four decades through the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) by providing supplementary food to children, pregnant and lactating women, and take-home rations; the Mid-Day Meal programme; and strengthening the Public Distribution System (PDS). The National Food Security Act 2013 ensures access to an adequate quantity of quality food through the government food security programmes.

Food insecurity and malnutrition continue to impose extensive health, economic, and social burdens on a large section of people living in developing countries. Lack of resources, religious taboos, limited education, and poor socio-economic conditions are among the key factors that affect the food and nutritional security of the households.

Well-maintained and food secure households with adequate nutritional status would mean improving what people eat, in terms of quality, quantity, and diversity. This in turn requires efforts related to availability as well as economic access to the food supply.

A home-based nutrition garden of fruits and vegetables plays an important role in delivering dietary and nutritional needs by providing households with direct access to good quality food that can be harvested, prepared, and consumed by themselves at arm’s length on a daily basis. These home-based nutrition gardens are generally located in the backyard on a small piece of land with a high diversity of plants. Nutrition gardens are a local strategy that is widely adopted and practised by local communities with limited resources and institutional support. However, depending on the cultural and local food preference, it has been seen that limited species and varieties of food groups are grown in these gardens. Even though they provide some form of nutrition, optimal utilisation of land to grow vegetables that can contribute towards the requirements of a balanced diet.

Though we were cultivating vegetables for decades, it was limited to 3-4 species and varieties. This was due to a lack of proper knowledge and awareness among women like us. To some extent, our culture and societal custom do remain us with household works. Nanibai, member of Awar Mata Kishan Samoh shared while recalling her old days

Keeping this in mind to ensure adequate nutritional diet to the small farm families, Caritas India with the support of Caritas Switzerland and Caritas Austria extended their valuable support through Smallholder Adaptive Farming and Biodiversity (SAFBIN) program to establish a home-based nutrition garden for each household out of which a total of 756 small farm families have diversified with 13-14 varieties of local fruits and vegetables and are consuming locally produced culturally preferred balanced diet by adding necessary vitamins and minerals in their daily food intake.

Creating awareness on the importance of consuming vegetables to address micronutrient deficiencies, sanitation and personal hygiene and attention to the health of pregnant women and lactating mothers and children in particular in coordination with local stakeholders like Anganwadi, nutrition rehabilitation centres district health department, school committee, MDM team was an integral component of SAFBIN form of nutrition drive.

The community-led approach initiated to combat malnutrition by the SAFBIN program is accepted by many women in our locality. It is really helpful for women to know about the local food as well as their health. I have my own nutrition garden with 13 varieties of local fruits and vegetables in my backyard now for around the year. Said Rampyari, a member of Chandni Kishan Samoh of Khusipura village.

The conceptualisation of a nutrition garden aims to address the daily food requirement for the family. Nutrition gardens are nothing but home gardens of natural and bio-fortified fruits and vegetables of high nutritive value where the species selection is inclusive of the three vegetable groups viz., green leafy vegetables, roots and tubers and other vegetables with specific attention to addressing micro-nutrient (vitamins and minerals) deficiencies, particularly iron and vitamin A.

Usually, in rural areas where the diets particularly of pregnant and lactating women, pre-school children are generally found deficient in micro-nutrients. However, these nutrition gardens ensure staple-based diets with a significant portion of proteins, vitamins, and minerals, leading to an enriched and balanced diet.