Learning Event No. 9, Session 2: Holmer. ARDD2012 Rio

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The World Vegetable Center vegetables + development

1 /

Vegetable gardens:

A nexus for agriculture, nutrition &

health

Robert J. Holmer

Regional Director

AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center in East and Southeast Asia

Learning event 9:

From field to fork to field: nutritious food and nutrient recycling to

enhance health, wealth and resilience

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2 /

Imbalanced Food Systems

27 % of adults

overweight or

obese

“Double burden

of disease”

26 % of children

underweight Source: FNRI 2008

For example in the

Philippines:

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3 /

National vegetable availability vs. health/nutrition status:

Health status indicator: Children under 5 mortality rate

Nutrition status indicator: Children under 5 underweight

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800

Ch

ildre

n <

5 m

ort

alit

y r

ate

(1

/10

00

)

Vegetable availability (g/person/day)

Lao PDR Tajikistan

Korea PDR Vietnam

Cambodia

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 C

hild

ren

< 5

un

de

rwe

igh

t (%

)

Vegetable availability (g/person/day)

Maldives

Lao PDR

Tajikistan

Korea PDR Viet Nam

Saudi Arabia

United Arab Emirates

Cambodia

Countries Veg availability

(g/ person/day) Mortality rate (1/1000) Underweight (%)

Cambodia 85 93 36

Lao PDR 397 75 37

Viet Nam 230 30 20

Source: FAOSTAT (2010), WHO (2010)

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4 /

Relationship between malnutrition and infection

Source: Brown (2003)

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5 /

Malnutrition and the link to sanitation

• Effects of malnutrition – mortality, impairment of cognitive development and educational performance - can cost up to 9% of a country’s Gross Domestic Product.

• Health impacts can be prevented by reducing environmental health risks (e.g. improved sanitation, water and hygiene) and improved nutrition

• Multiplier effect: for every death prevented from an environmental health intervention, additional deaths from other diseases are averted (Mills-Reincke phenomenon)

Source: World Bank (2008)

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6 /

Food and Nutrition Security

• Nutrition security: – “secure access to

appropriately nutritious food

coupled with a sanitary

environment, adequate health

services and care, to ensure a

healthy and active life for all

household members”

Source: DFID (2009)

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7 /

Why vegetables?

• High value crops

• Relatively easy to grow in different

environments

• Provide employment, especially for

women and other vulnerable groups

• Generate income

• Provide micronutrients, vitamins,

dietary fiber, phytochemicals and

protein

• Contribute to balanced diets

Vegetables

3-5 servings a day

1 serving = 80g

240 – 400g a day

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8 /

Why home gardens?

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9 /

Berlin, 1946

Anything new?

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10 /

... preparing the land

Allotment Gardens Philippines

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11 /

Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD)

Jeannette M.E. Tramhel. 2010. Using Participatory

Urban Design to "Close the Nutrient Loop" in the

Philippines. Urban Agriculture Magazine 23 - Urban

nutrient management, 30-31.

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12 /

NUTRIENTS NUTRIENTS

Closing the loop

between sanitation

and agriculture

FOOD FOOD

Pathogen

destruction

Productive Sanitation

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13 /

Nitrogen

(kg/capita)

Phosphorous

(kg/capita)

Potassium

(kg/capita)

Urine 2.3 – 4.0 0.3 – 0.4 0.9 - 1.1

Faeces 0.3 – 0.6 0.1 – 0.2 0.3 - 0.4

Total 2.6 – 4.6 0.4 – 0.6 1.2 – 1.5

Estimated annual excretion of nutrients per person (500 l of

urine and 50 kg of faeces)*:


* flushed away with about 10,000 liters of water as medium of transportation

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14 /

Monetary equivalents (PhP/capita and year) of annual

excretion of nutrients: per person:

Amount

(kg/year)

Cost

(PhP/kg)

Subtotal

(PhP/year)

Complete (14-14-14) 6.53 35.60 232.47

Urea (46-0-0) 3.65 33.20 121.18

MoP (0-0-60) 0.96 38.00 36.48

Total 390.13

Multiplied by 90 million Filipinos:

35.1 Billion Pesos (580 Mio Euro) worth of fertilizer

equivalents go down the drain every year polluting water

bodies.


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15 /

How a “waterless” urine diversion dehydration toilet works

Ecological Sanitation

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16 /



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17 /

6 months 1 month

Primary treatment (storage)



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18 /

Diluting urine with water Side dress application

Preplant application of composted faeces


Reuse of ecosan products

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19 /

Ecological Sanitation

Secondary treatment

(aerobic & vermicomposting)


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20 /

NUTRIENTS NUTRIENTS

FOOD


• International guidelines are

available, but:

• Lack of R&D investment to

develop local protocols that

best suit the agronomic

requirements of the crops

grown as well as the specific

socioeconomic, cultural,

and environmental realities

of many developing countries

• “Nexus”: another catchphrase

or real commitment?

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21 /

Healthy diets begin with

knowledge

• A school usually is the center

of each community

• A place where programs on

good health practices can be

taught and implemented to

achieve behavioral changes at

home.

Potential of School Gardens

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22 /

Advantages of school-based programs

• Promoting good health and nutrition

before and during school age is essential

to effective growth and development

• The pre-existing infrastructure of the

educational system offers a cost-

effective route for delivery of simple

health interventions

Good health and nutrition are prerequisites for

effective learning

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23 /

Philippine “Vegetable Gardens in Schools” Program

• Establishment of vegetable

gardens in all 42,076 public

primary and secondary schools of

the country

• To be complemented by home &

community gardens

Earlier successful lessons of vegetable gardening

have to be re-learned by a new generation

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24 /

Strategies for successful implementation

• Successful school garden programs

cannot be created in isolation, but have to

be linked with education and

environmental interventions

• Communication and

synergy between the

health, agriculture

and education

sectors is

indispensable

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25 /

Promotion of vegetables…

…. sanitation, and healthy lifestyles

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26 /

Prosperity for the Poor and Health for All

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AVRDC - The World Vegetable Center

Technology

Learning Event No. 9, Session 2: Holmer. ARDD2012 Rio