FAO’s homestead gardens help improve nutrition in resettled communities of Labondo, northeastern Nigeria
Yola, Adamawa State - In the newly built Labondo reintegration settlement camp, in Girei local government area, Adamawa state, northeastern Nigeria, hope was scarce and hunger prevalent, until an innovative solution took root.
The over 400 resettled internally displaced people (IDPs) faced difficulties in accessing food to feed their families - vegetables were limited and, as a result, children were malnourished. “Before FAO’s intervention, you could not see any vegetables around, the only green plants available were what we call in hausa tafasa and majanfara (senna and pot cassia, respectively) that grew spontaneously. Everyone was looking out for their families, whatever you could find, you could not share with neighbours. Now, the situation has changed, there are gardens in almost every home to produce nutritious vegetables to feed ourselves and share with our neighbours”.
Ms Mairo Ibrahim is the representative of the women leaders in the Labondo reintegration settlement camp in Girei local government area, Adamawa state. She explained the difficulties women had to face to access food when resettled in the camp, relying on anything around them that looked edible. “Tafasa and majanfara look similar and both grow around the camp, you find them everywhere once it rains or where the ground is wet. We did not have any food when we resettled here. They look okay to eat and so much alike that most people didn’t know the difference between majanfara that is poisonous and tafasa that is instead edible. Sadly, about six people died after eating a meal made from majanfara in the camp. Others showed signs of malnutrition after just a few days, especially among children”, said Ms Mairo Ibrahim.
The situation endured until FAO provided vulnerable households with homestead gardening support, within the framework of its United Arab Emirates (UAE) funded project, entitled “Emergency agriculture-based livelihoods assistance for improved food security and nutrition of populations affected by conflict and economic shocks in northeastern Nigeria”, facilitated by the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiative (MBGRI).
The project reached 2 000 vulnerable families, mainly female-headed households with limited access to land in urban and peri-urban sites including IDP camps, returnees and host communities. Support mainly focused on the provision of agricultural inputs including fertilizer, seeds and basic gardening tools to enable them to produce nutritious vegetables in their homestead plots to supplement their diets and sell surplus production to generate income.
Enhancing children’s nutrition thanks to improved access to and availability of vegetables
“This intervention has helped a lot, children are looking healthier than ever. Feeding what we call ‘half-done’ (half-cooked) vegetables to malnourished children has had unbelievable results in quickly improving their conditions. For me and other women in the community, there seem to be no petty-petty (common) sicknesses among us anymore”, Ms Mairo Ibrahim noted.
She proceeded in explaining how well other families are tending to their gardens and are selling part of their production at the community market. The vegetables produced not only contribute to improving their families’ diets but also enabling them to generate income.
Participating women also benefited from training on homestead gardening techniques, orange-fleshed sweet potato production, establishing nurseries, seed planting, good agronomic and nutrition practices, and pest management.
The women in the community now know to let some of the vegetables flower to collect seeds for replanting, as well as the importance of adding a bit of manure to the soil, and periodic peer review by the women leaders is conducted to establish progress made.
Finally, post-distribution monitoring for the MBGRI project wasundertaken to ensure the participating households sustain the production of vegetables in the resettled community. The result shows huge success as many of the project participants are now proud owners of homestead gardens. Nearly one year after the distribution of inputs, families within the camp have increased their access to vegetables which are now planted in over 200 homes year-round, significantly contributing to enhanced nutrition.
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David Tsokar
Communication Specialist
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