HOME GARDEN TECHNOLOGY LEAFLET

INTRODUCTION

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THESE LEAFLETS?

The Home Garden Technology Leaflets are designed to help farmers and home garden managers improve household food supplies and nutrition through home gardening. This package contains 18 leaflets, each with information on a technology option or on the types of improvements home garden managers can make in order to increase food production, provide a greater diversity of plant foods and add nutritional value to the household diet.

WHO SHOULD USE THE LEAFLETS?

The leaflets are for use by agricultural extension and other field workers and can be translated into local languages for home garden managers who are literate. The leaflets can be used when a home garden manager wishes to:

• set up a new home garden;
• develop or expand an existing home garden;
• improve household food supplies;
• add nutritional value to the household diet;
• improve family meals and the nutritional well-being of household members.

HOW SHOULD THE LEAFLETS BE USED?

The leaflets can be used either singly or in combination, depending on the types of improvements the home garden manager wishes to make. Agricultural extension workers should assist home garden managers in selecting certain technologies based on the varieties and quantities of home garden crops the home garden managers wish to grow.

Households should always contact their agricultural extension worker if they need advice on technical issues such as crop management, pesticide use, water management and other topics. Health and other field workers trained in nutrition can be called on for advice regarding infant and child feeding, food processing and preparation.

HOME GARDEN TECHNOLOGY LEAFLET 1

IMPROVING THE HOME GARDEN

Most home gardens can be improved to do a better job of meeting household food needs. Improving the home garden often means changing its structure and function. Before any changes can be undertaken, however, household members must answer the following questions:

• How much food and income is the home garden producing?
• How much more food and income would the home garden manager like the garden to produce?
• What additional crops would the household members like to produce?
• What types of changes need to be made?
• What inputs are required to make the desired improvements?

Choosing which crops to grow is the most important decision, and there are many factors to consider. To answer the above questions, the home garden manager, together with the other household members, must first appraise the garden. Steps 1 through 3 provide practical advice on appraising a home garden. After the appraisal, the home garden manager must identify the changes to be made, how they will be made and the resources required to make them. Steps 4 through 6 help home garden managers think about and plan these changes. Step 7 is actually making the changes.

APPRAISING THE HOME GARDEN

Step 1: Get the right people to participate

Community members or support staff from different backgrounds have knowledge about home gardening and can be helpful in an appraisal. Home garden managers and members of a household who participate in home gardening know a lot about their garden, including its history and what it provides for them. The local agricultural extension worker can help the household identify plans, assess the soil and perform other technical exercises, but the household members still may want to ask others to participate, for example, neighbours, relatives, members of the local farmers' club, or other field workers.

Step 2: Make a map of the home garden

With the help of those invited to take part in the appraisal, sketch a map of the home garden (see Figure 1). This can even be a "mud map", drawn on the ground with a stick and using stones, leaves and other materials to represent the locations of major features, such as shade and fruit-trees; fuelwood and farm development areas (e.g. plant nursery); recreational areas; and the areas with staple crops, vegetables and herbs. Mark the areas where the land is sloping or swampy.

FIGURE 1
Discussing and drawing the home garden map

FIGURE 2
Basic home garden map

Step 3: Make a copy and keep it

Copy the map as clearly as possible on to paper and keep it. Note any useful details that need to be remembered. When it is time, make the changes and improvements to the garden, consult the map. Development and improvement of a home garden is not a one-time event - it is a process. Consult the map each time changes and improvements need to be made, and modify it each time major changes are completed. (Use Figure 2, "Basic home garden map", as a guide.)

CHANGING THE HOME GARDEN

Step 4: Plan home garden improvements

Planning home garden improvements requires careful thinking, consultation and decision-making. A well-planned home garden can provide a wide variety of foods at different times of the year, income, herbs and spices, and seeds and seedlings to supply the family's other farmland. At the same time, it will enhance the beauty of the homestead.

Deciding what to do to improve a home garden depends on the individual situation, such as types of foods needed for good family nutrition; the family's food preferences; and number of people in the family. Physical factors must also be considered, including climate and rainfall, land and water availability, soil type, the slope of the land, time, the availability of money for the purchase of seeds and other inputs, knowledge of food crop cultivation within the family, access to technical support from field workers, and the risk of pests, diseases or drought. Members of a household and their friends can participate in the planning process. The local agricultural extension and other field workers can provide decision-making advice.

Step 5: Set objectives

Make a list of the main home garden tasks, in their order of priority. Identify the major constraints likely to be encountered (e.g. roaming chickens, limited water supply) as well as those positive features that can facilitate the desired changes (e.g. sufficient good land, access to a permanent water source, the presence of school-age sons and daughters who are able to assist). Keep the list simple, initially, and focus on priority issues. Some examples of home garden improvement objectives are to:

• provide a variety of foods for the daily nutritional needs of the family;
• provide more income;
• increase root and tuber production;
• increase vegetable production;
• increase fruit production;
• develop a nursery for the dry-season production of vegetables;
• develop a nursery for fruit- and nut-trees;
• keep out pests;
• make use of all the available home garden areas.

After selecting the objectives and actions, indicate at what time of the year they must be undertaken. Also, write down how some of the constraints (e.g. poor soil fertility, little time to work in the garden) can be overcome. This thinking and planning process will help in the selection of practical and affordable actions. It will also help determine which changes can be made immediately and which must wait.

For example, to diversify the variety of crops grown, select crops suitable for the climatic and topographic conditions of the area, as well as for the season. Which crops are produced for household use and which for sale will depend largely on household consumption, the nutritional needs of family members, the size of the home garden and the availability of a reliable water source. The availability of planting materials and household members' availability and readiness to work are also important considerations when selecting crops. The local field worker can provide advice on making the right decisions.

Step 6: Select technology options

Choose those technology options (from Table 1) that meet the needs of the situation. Depending on the type of land and resources, a single option or a combination of several options can be selected.

Using the home garden map, identify where a given technology option should be used. Some technology options may overlap. For example, living fences (Home Garden Technology Leaflet 11) are useful around an intensive vegetable plot (Home Garden Technology Leaflet 15). Consulting the home garden map, walk around the garden and try to imagine how the selected technology options will fit in the existing system.

TABLE 1
Home Garden Technology Leaflets

Each of the technology options briefly described in the leaflets can probably be found in practice in gardens and on farms of any given village. The local agricultural extension worker, or a neighbour with a well-developed home garden, can offer more detailed information and advice on using these technology options.

The home garden manager should use the map as a vision of the garden he or she wishes to create. Everyone who works in the garden, including advisers, should refer to the map in order to ensure that each step is thought about, discussed and that all who are involved have equal understanding. The map can also be used to check changes and monitor progress towards the objectives.

Step 7: Make the changes

After selecting the changes to be made in the home garden, follow the instructions or suggestions given in the appropriate Home Garden Technology Leaflets to make those changes. A visit to a well-planned home garden in the village will help provide a clear picture of what should be achieved. Observing more experienced home garden managers carrying out specific tasks, and assisting them in the process, gives farmers the chance to learn new skills. The local agricultural extension worker can also provide help. In general, if a home garden manager is uncomfortable with or unsure about developments in the home garden, he or she should ask for advice from the agricultural extension worker, or from a neighbour who has a well-developed home garden.

FIGURE 3
Example of a home garden map with different technology options