Homestead Food Production

Homestead Food Production, HFP, helps communities establish technically improved local food production systems through gardens with micronutrient-rich fruits and vegetables year-round and small farms for poultry and livestock. The fruits and vegetables ensure the availability of vitamins and minerals essential to 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 micronutrients. Furthermore, the programs provide families with income from the sale of surplus goods, empower women, and increase the technical knowledge and capacity of local non-governmental organizations. 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 producing food that improves nutritional status, surplus produce provides a small but vital source of income to families. The additional income helps families to reduce their poverty levels and gain economic independence. Program evaluations indicate that income generated from the surplus produce is most often spent on other high-quality food items, and that incomes have been sustained after HKI's direct support has phased out.

The programs have a positive impact on the organization and empowerment of women in participating communities, who organize 90% of the gardens. Women are empowered by the ability to contribute to the economic stability of the family and by their association with other farmers. According to the Country Director of HKI Bangladesh, "investments in homestead gardens have proven to give huge returns to empower the most valuable resource in Bangladesh; women working tirelessly for their families. There's simply no greater guaranteed return than investing in women." Multiple studies indicate that women are primarily responsible for procuring and preparing food for their children and that by targeting women, the programs improve the likelihood that the vegetables are consumed by children.

A recent study done 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. 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. 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.