- One of the most important pre-requisites in starting this line of change is to convince people about the issue. The gravity of not strengthening systems in the urban and peri urban arena should be communicated in simple and elegant language. Communities should change their behavior about the importance of local food security through facts and figures.
- The burden of doing extra work in the midst of sometimes hectic urban schedules should be given high consideration, especially women who are most often tending the household, to caring for children, dealing with violence and also working in the garden. Careful assessments should be made of the number of hours of ALL work by both males and females. Based on this agriculture should be made convenient, with starter packs, easy grow methods and also information on quantification of the optimum number of plants required according to number of family members and how much produce would be yielded. When this info is put out there, it is very convincing.
- The impact of urban produce on local markets and also rural produce marketing in urban centres is another aspect
- Hygiene and sanitation implications of disposal of plant matter is another consideration as post harvest losses as well as discarded elements could increase the garbage load in urban centres if not carefully managed.
- GAP will be important if not there is a danger of chemicals lying around and being a hazard to the households.
- The nutrition mainstreaming and landscaping of home gardens are two important elements. Therefore households should for example be convinced to have 7 different vegetables, 7 types of greens and different types of fruit for diversity of the diet throughout the week. This requires training their minds for planning the garden as well as planning their menu.
Hope this will be helpful
Visakha Tillekeratne
Consultant FAO Sri Lanka
Visakha Tillekeratne