Backyard nutrition gardens- For family nutrition and income

September 2025

In rainfed agriculture, where farm livelihoods are highly vulnerable to climate vagaries, alternative farm based enterprises go a long way in providing the necessary support for farmers to remain in farming. Backyard kitchen garden is one such enterprise which meets multiple needs like food, income and nutrition security, besides empowering women.

Channapur and Chouragudda villages are located in Hubballi taluk, Dharwad district in Karnataka. Majority of the farmers own small landholdings and practice rain-fed agriculture, depending almost entirely on the yearly monsoon for irrigation. Poor soils and indiscriminate use of fertilizers and pesticides have not only resulted in increasing the production cost, but have also led to greater dependence on external inputs, low productivity, uncertain incomes and chemical laden food production. Erratic weather patterns caused by climate change are making their risky livelihoods even more precarious. Household food and nutrition security are at stake. With no serious guidance on eco-friendly farming from the mainstream institutions, farmers, especially youth are moving away from farming.

In this context, during 2023, AME Foundation in collaboration with Rotary Club Indiranagar implemented a project on promoting sustainable agriculture for improving the farmer livelihoods. The project was taken up to support dry land farming groups to undergo systematic and adopt alternative farming practices. Besides guiding farmers on sustainable agriculture practices in field crops like maize, soybean and sorghum, kitchen gardens were also promoted to enable households secure nutrition and also income.

Backyard kitchen gardens

A key intervention was to help farm women raise kitchen gardens in their backyard. These kitchen gardens are meant to increase food diversity in the diets of the participating families and reduce reliance on the market for introduced vegetables. Each interested household was provided with a kitchen garden kit containing around 10-13 types of vegetable seeds. By raising kitchen gardens, women were able to harvest many types of seasonal vegetables.

During 2023-24, kitchen garden kits with 13 different varieties of vegetables were given to 70 group members. For those who had sown seeds early in the season, owing to excessive rains, the seeds didn’t germinate. But around 40% of the women who took up late sowing, could harvest vegetables from the gardens. Women have done composting with kitchen waste, garden clippings, and dry leaves to create rich organic compost. This compost is used to fertilize the garden beds. They also prepared organic liquid fertilizers like Panchagavya and Jeevamruta to increase immunity and promote plant growth. To manage pest and diseases, they used neem oil spray as natural pesticides. Organic mulch, such as straw and dried leaves, were applied around plants to retain soil moisture, suppress weeds, and improve soil health. Each of the households produced vegetables like brinjal, bhendi, tomato, gourds, cucumber, radish and green vegetables. On an average each household produced vegetables worth Rs.2500-3500 in a season.

Again, 2024 has been a year of heavy rainfall for Dharwad district. Untimely rains caused havoc, damaging crops. Farmers had to face crop losses and in such a situation around 25 women farmers raised nutrition qardens in their backyard. Each household produced vegetables worth Rs.3000-4000 in a season. Kitchen gardens served as a boon to these families facing food shortages due to crop loss.

Box 1: Case of Sainaza

Smt. Sainaza M Shetasanadi lives with a family of 4 members in Channapur village, Hubballi taluk, Dharwad. Her family relies mostly on farming for livelihood. They have 2 acres of farmland. Having a small plot in her backyard, she desired to grow fresh, organic produce for her family and so adopted sustainable gardening practices. She was very keen to know how sustainable practices can transform small spaces into productive and eco-friendly gardens.

Sainaza is one of the women who was trained in kitchen gardening and was provided with a kitchen garden kit containing various vegetable seeds. She selected area in her backyard that receives ample sunlight. Added homemade compost and organic manure. She planned the garden layout to include raised beds, vertical gardening structures and containers to maximize the use of space. She prepared and applied organic liquid fertilisers, organic mulch and natural pesticides.

Shainaza says that she used to spend about Rs.800-1000 every month for vegetables for the household and now she is able to produce them in her backyard. By producing on her own, she could harvest Rs.3800 worth vegetables.

Her approach not only provides fresh, healthy food for her family but also promotes environmental sustainability and community engagement. She actively shares her gardening knowledge with neighbours. By sharing her experiences and knowledge, she continues to inspire others to adopt sustainable gardening practices, contributing to a greener and healthier environment. Her successful kitchen garden has inspired several community members to start their own gardens, fostering a culture of sustainable living.

AME Foundation
No. 204, 100 Feet Ring Road,
3rd Phase, Banashankari 2nd Block, 3rd Stage
Bangalore - 560 085, India
www.amefound.org
E-mail: leisaindia@yahoo.co.in

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