Improving nutrition through Homestead Vegetable Cultivation

Promotion of OFSP and other Vegetables for Improving Nutrition in Aquaculture-Agriculture Systems

Improve nutritional status of women and children

Involving with SPRING activities

FFS member, October 2012 FFS Session Agriculture extension inputs

(seeds, poultry shed)

FFS Session• Cultivation

methods, intercultural management, and post harvest

• Importance of vegetables in nutrition aspect

Before SPRINGBeauty Begum lives in Baro baliadangi village under Noapara union in Jessore district. Beauty’s husband, Abdul hai, works as a carpenter (seasonally) and cultivate different vegetables in his cultivable land which has not yet distributed among his four brothers and two sisters by his father. So he has to depend on his father’s property. The couple has two children, aged seven yrs and 18 months.

Her husband mostly involve with cultivation of cereal crops. She has to depends on her husband for vegetables from market. Health and nutritious status of her family was not good. Her family’s monthly income was about taka 3,900 (about US$48.75). Her 18 months boy was sick very frequently. It was quite tough for her to manage all the expenses of her family.

After involving with SPRINGThrough FFS session Beauty has learned to grow diverse, nutritious vegetables as well as implement practices such as handwashing and improved child feeding to increase health and nutrition.

Following an initial training, SPRING provided Beauty five types of seeds, including leafy green vegetables, pumpkin and root vegetables, to develop a household garden. She began harvesting different leafy vegetables like spinach, red amaranth, kangkong in late October’12, noting, “I do not have to use scarce household funds to purchase vegetables any longer. I have learned how to prepare the land with pits and beds and sow seeds for a better harvest. Now, I can cook nutritious food for my family.”

Now she can save her money for her school going son. And this savings money was used to buy vegetables from the market which was amount about taka 500.00 (about US$ 6.00)

Two column slideThrough cultivating diversified vegetables Beauty fill up her family nutritious need of her family

Beauty Begum, at her homestead vegetable garden

Boro baliadanga FFS, Jessore sadar

Boro baliadangi FFS, Jessore sdar

Beauty Begum, at her homestead vegetable garden

Thank you from beneficiary