A Brief History of... The Program

With work getting busy and field visits happening, I have a feeling that more and more of my blog posts are going to be work-related... So I thought it would be helpful to give a bit of a primer on the program I'm working on for the next 6 months. This was taken from a bulletin by The Org and sums up the programs operations and objectives quite nicely!

"The Homestead Food Production Program targets women from poor households as the primary beneficiaries, placing farming inputs, knowledge and skills in their hands. The Org works in collaboration with local partner NGOs and government structures to establish Village Model Farms (VMF) and also helps household to establish home gardens (cultivation of vegetables and fruit crops around the house) and small animal husbandry, mainly poultry... The Org and partners promote 'developed gardens,' which produce a wide variety of vegetables and fruit on a fixed plot of land throughout the year. This model relies on the dedication of participating households, particularly owners of Village Model Farms (VMF). The model also builds linkages with local health and agriculture structures to provide additional services to participating households and builds capacity of local partners to provide sustained technical assistance on both agriculture and nutrition to both VMF owners and beneficiary homestead food producers after the life of the three year project cycle.

The VMF serve as a place for training and demonstrations on improved agricultural techniques, technologies and poultry production activities for households participating in the program. The VMF is also used a a production center, as it is a source for inputs, like low cost quality seeds, seedlings, saplings and chicks. VMF owners are responsible for sharing these new practices and low cost inputs with other households in the village and providing ongoing support in collaboration with The Org and local partners. Typically about 20 households are supported by one VMF and households are divided into two smaller groups (women's groups) to best facilitate collaboration.

Nutrition education is a core component of the Homestead Food Production Program. The Org and local NGO partners train health staff and volunteers working at the village level, who in turn host nutrition education sessions for mothers. These sessions emphasize the importance of eating nutritious food during pregnancy and lactation, as well as educate mothers on optimal feeding of infants and young children, including breastfeeding and complementary feeding. Mothers learn how to improve their household's dietary diversity and micronutrient consumption through cooking demonstration sessions using locally grown foods. More recently, the basic nutrition education component has been enhanced to include essential nutrition actions and behavior change negotiation for improved nutrition practices among mothers.

The Org and local partners provide all necessary inputs at baseline to VMF and households, including: 10-14 vegetable and fruit seed, seedlings, and saplings, chicks, poultry vaccinations, and training on optimal crops and cultivation, composting and organic pest control, water management and conservation, garden fencing, chicken shelter construction, vaccines and feed production."