Caritas India, in collaboration with Caritas Australia, is implementing the Gram Nirman project in three states: Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Delhi. The urban programme component in Delhi primarily focuses on rehabilitating families living with HIV/AIDS in 18 new slums in the East Delhi district. The intervention area is located on the eastern bank of the Yamuna River bordering Uttar Pradesh. It is Delhi’s most populous area, and a larger malaise has spread throughout the region.

In contrast to rural India, urban slums in Delhi lack space and fertile soil, so slum dwellers rely on local vegetable vendors for their daily nutrition needs. They consume vegetables which come from surrounding states including Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal, and Jharkhand. The residents suffered greatly from job loss and unstable income sources following the pandemic. Growing vegetable prices have also reduced their daily vegetable and nutrition consumption. This has badly affected the nutrition intake of HIV-infected and affected families and individuals.

To address the issue, Caritas India has introduced an innovative pilot of a rooftop nutrition garden with the active participation of people with HIV and Aids (PLHIV), to empower marginal households and establish a sustainable source for nutrient consumption.

A healthy body requires sufficient macronutrients (proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and water) and micronutrients to function properly and ensure healthy growth.

Nutrition, on the other hand, is critical for people living with HIV and AIDS to fight the disease.

Nutrition requirements are likely to increase by 10% to maintain body weight and physical activity in asymptomatic HIV-infected adults and growth in asymptomatic children. To maintain adult body weight when discussing symptomatic HIV, and later during AIDS, nutrition requirements increase by approximately 20% to 30%. Nutrition requirements for children losing weight must be increased by 50% to 100% above normal requirements.

The initiative aims to promote natural, healthy, and easy-to-access vegetables so the beneficiaries can save money while getting nutritious vegetables in their households. Aside from that, working in the garden gives them a lot of joy and satisfaction. The practice has also instilled in urban slum dwellers better-eating habits water and waste management practices, and gardening techniques.

15 PLHIV households came forward for the pilot and were trained and supported with vegetable and fruit seeds and saplings such as spinach, tomato, beans, brinjal, guava, lemon, and other varieties of dark green leafy vegetables because they take less time to grow and harvest and can yield higher returns. To promote organic practices, the targeted members were also trained in the preparation of organic plant nutrition using locally available resources such as cow dung, cow urine, and jaggery.

“Previously, we used to cook vegetables when someone came to sell (in the Urban slum) or when we went to the market to buy,” one of the PLHIV exclaimed. We used to buy fewer vegetables because they were expensive. But now things will be different because we have Input support from Gram Nirman and will be able to grow and cook different vegetables every day.”