This training package, Improving nutrition through home gardening, is for the instruction of agricultural extension agents and other field workers in Southeast Asia. It aims to strengthen their ability to promote home gardening for better family and community nutrition. The package was prepared by the Food and Nutrition Division of FAO on the basis of training materials developed for the FAO/UNDP Technical Support to the WFP Transmigration Development Project (INS/89/004) in Indonesia.
Access to an adequate amount and variety of safe foods at all times is one of the most basic rights of every individual, yet it remains difficult to attain for a significant number of families in Southeast Asia. However, when households are able to complement their resources such as land and labour with improved tools and seeds and the right information, they can increase their productivity and obtain sufficient nutritious foods by fully developing their land.
In the pert-urban areas of Southeast Asia, families often farm 500 to 1 500 m2 of land around their home. This area offers great potential for improving household food supplies. For the purpose of this book, this entire area will be referred to as the home garden. The home garden can be used to raise many kinds of fruit, vegetables, staple food crops, medicinal plants, spices and, sometimes, farm animals and fish. It is also used as a playground for children, a work area and a place for storage of farm produce and equipment. The home garden also has an important economic function as a source of food production for sale and income generation.
THE ROLE OF AGRICULTURISTS IN IMPROVING COMMUNITY AND FAMILY NUTRITION
Agriculturists are usually trained to promote the production of food and cash crops and animals but are rarely given the training required to promote better diets and nutritional practices. By virtue of their direct access to rural farm families, extension staff are well placed to promote improved household food supplies and nutritious diets through the development of home gardening.
Where appropriate, agricultural extension workers can provide guidance and encourage the community to produce, not only for sale, but also for home consumption. It is a valuable investment in human resource development to expose extension workers to and train them to address human problems such as malnutrition as well as crop and animal production.
This training package has attempted to integrate food production and consumption issues and thereby to provide a comprehensive set of materials for teaching agricultural extension, home economics and community development workers to assist families in improving food production and adding nutritional value to their diets.
WHAT ARE THE COMPONENTS OF THE TRAINING PACKAGE?
The training package has three components:
- course materials and technical notes for trainers (marked in green) and course materials for participants (marked in yellow) - these are divided into ten sessions; - information and participation - home garden technology leaflets (marked in grey) |
The course materials for trainers and participants provide an introduction to each topic and should be given to trainees as hand-outs after each session. The technical notes for trainers set out a programme of activities in which the trainer may lead the class.
The information sheets for trainers and participants contain technical information on each topic and should be distributed to and used by trainees as indicated in the technical notes for trainers.
The home garden technology leaflets are for use by extension workers and families whose members are able to read. There are 15 leaflets, each of which provides information on a different technology option or type of improvement a family may want to make to its home garden in order to increase food production, provide a greater diversity of fruit, vegetables and other plant crops and add nutritional value to its diet.
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE TRAINING PACKAGE?
The materials contained in the training package assist the trainer in showing how the home garden can make a significant contribution towards meeting daily family food needs for good nutrition and health. The aim of the course is to provide agricultural extension workers, home economists and community workers with the technical, extension and planning skills necessary to help rural households identify problems and opportunities for improving home food production and to attain better nutrition for all the family.
A variety of foods are necessary for good family nutrition but, to keep the training materials simple, their focus is on food crops such as roots, vegetables, legumes and fruit that are common in home gardens. There is less technical emphasis on other crops, small farm animals and fish.
WHO SHOULD DO THE TRAINING?
Ideally, two trainers are needed: one with a background in agriculture and the other with experience in community nutrition. Both should have experience in in-service training in the informal education sector and be familiar with the needs and problems of rural communities. Materials for trainees should be provided by the trainer in the form of hand-outs.
WHO SHOULD PARTICIPATE IN THE TRAINING COURSE?
The people to be trained include agricultural extension, home economics and community development workers as well as others concerned with nutrition improvement through community development. Trainees should have some secondary school education and have experience in agriculture, community work or practical family nutrition. Women's group leaders and home economics workers should also be encouraged to participate because their work is traditionally focused on assisting rural women in home gardening, budgeting and nutrition.
WHAT IS THE CONTENT OF THE TRAINING SESSIONS?
The training package is divided into ten sessions. The trainees gain an understanding of the home garden in daily family life and learn about nutrition in Sessions 1 to 4. The way a home garden can contribute to family and community nutrition is explored in Session 5, while Sessions 6 and 7 teach students how to assess a home garden and a family's nutrition status. Practical ways to plan and manage a home garden and nutrition improvement activities in a community are presented in Sessions 8 to 10.
Improving food production requires both technical and managerial solutions to problems encountered in the home garden. The technical part of the solution can only be found by field workers after they have worked with the community to appraise the situation. This training package follows such an approach, with technical and management issues carefully integrated into the course.
WHERE SHOULD THE TRAINING BE CONDUCTED?
The training should be conducted in a rural area in or near villages where trainees can visit home gardens and work directly with village families. Examples of suitable venues include local schoolrooms, a community meeting hall or a large local house. There should be accommodation nearby for those trainers or participants who come from outside the village.
HOW SHOULD THE TRAINING BE CONDUCTED?
The training requires access to both a classroom and the field, and encourages the trainer to make use of a range of training activities: formal classroom presentations, discussions, household visits and interviews, group work, role play and case-studies. Suggestions for trainers on how to conduct each session are contained in the technical notes for trainers. Fieldwork and household visits are often used directly after formal presentations to support, reinforce and practice what has been covered in the classroom.
WHAT IS THE DURATION OF THE TRAINING COURSE?
The training is designed to take six days to complete. Sessions I to 6 require half a day each, Sessions 7 and 8 require a full day each and Sessions 9 and 10 require half a day each but can be extended to one or more days, depending on the situation and aims of the organization supporting this training. Additional time needs to be allocated for refreshment breaks and travel to field sites, if necessary.
WHAT MATERIALS ARE NEEDED?
The trainer must have a copy of the training package and will also need a flip chart with large sheets of paper and pens, or a blackboard and chalk for teaching activities. Some of the charts, tables, forms, information sheets and home garden technology leaflets in the training package can be copied on to a flip chart prior to the training sessions. Materials, information sheets and survey forms for use by trainees during the sessions need to be photocopied.
Each participant should also receive a full set of home garden technology leaflets. Participants can use these in their daily work with farming families and also distribute them to literate farmers in the villages.
WHAT CONTRIBUTION DOES THE TRAINING COURSE MAKE TO IMPROVE NUTRITION AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT?
Every household and community is different, and so solutions to problems of food production and nutrition must be adapted to the needs of each family. Trained field workers can help each family to examine its home garden and select the changes that it can and wants to make. Later, the field worker can help the family to assess the improvements and evaluate the results.
While preparing these materials, it has not been possible to take account of individual country differences and needs. These should be assessed and the training materials adapted to fulfill the specific needs of different situations and countries in Southeast Asia.
