HOMESTEAD GARDENING

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HOMESTEAD GARDENING

• What is new in LRAP?
• RSDA on behalf of local NGOs

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The story from local NGOs

• Rural Self-help Development Association (RSDA)
• Machobane Agricultural Foundation (MADF)
• GROW
• Lesotho Council of NGOs (LCN)
• Lesotho National Volunteers Commission (LNVC)
• Catholic Relief Services (CRS)
• Teba Development

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What is new in LRAP?

• Homestead gardening has always been a common
  feature in Lesotho. So what is new in LRAPs
  homestead gardening?
• LRAP has helped to bring together knowledge,
  experience and good practice on improved
  homestead gardening in Lesotho
• LRAP helped to bring awareness of the links
  between gardening and HIV/AIDS. The importance
  of vegetables and herbs in providing
  micro-nutrients to boost the immune system in the
  context of HIV and AIDS.
• LRAP has improved understanding of living
  positively. This has contributed to both local
  NGOs and farming households thinking practically
  about how to deal with the epidemic working
  with individual households and new community
  groups eg support groups, OVC gardens etc
• In summary LRAP has brought a new meaning to food
  gardens.

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The technologies promoted included

• Plot construction - raised plots, keyhole
  gardens, double digging, peace gardens.
  Different garden designs for different people
• Improving soil fertility - kraal manure, ash,
  mulching. Low external input.
• Cropping practices Integrated pest control
  methods. Succession planting, crop diversity,
  Machobane farming system. All to promote a range
  of foods available at all times.

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Key-hole garden
Seen from the top it looks like a key-hole
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Double digging
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Technologies promoted cont.

• Inputs - better quality seeds more available
  (seed multiplication, seed banks, re-packaging
  seeds into smaller, more affordable packets, seed
  distributors linked to trading stores)
• Water harvesting and conservation homestead
  dams, roof water tanks, drip irrigation kits,
  peace gardens
• Small livestock eggs and poultry to complement
  nutritional value of vegetables and for income
• Marketing and food preservation canning,
  drying, linking to local markets

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NGO services offered to the gardening households

• Training
• Inputs such as seeds, water harvesting materials,
  drip irrigation kits and chickens. (but being
  careful about subsidies to ensure sustainability
  of the programme).
• On-going mentoring and technical advice
• Linking households to the UES and longer term
  government support
• Advisory services on marketing.

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The development tools used

• The program emphasised working hand in hand with
  the beneficiary households to bring about changes
  required to assure food and nutrition security.
• The tools such as wealth ranking and action
  learning became very powerful for identifying
  vulnerable households and motivating households
  to move from lower poverty ranking to the next
  one and to grow.
• LRAP was not only about working with existing
  innovations but it was about also creating new
  learning.
• The farming households and NGOs were able to
  socialize useful and good practices among
  themselves and ourselves respectively.
• Documenting lessons learnt were documented and
  produced in a gardening training materials.

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Lessons Learnt

• Techniques promoted are affordable as they use
  readily available natural resources e.g. manure,
  bones, farm and kitchen waste, ash, stones, aloe,
  grass etc.
• Gardening can improved nutrition status of ill
  family members through variety vegetables, herbs,
  eggs and meat.
• Investment costs are very small. One may start
  with R5.00, but lead in increased income (R30.00)
  through gardening.
• Increased participation of men and children in
  gardening (traditionally, gardens are womens
  domain)
• Sustainable people now have the skills to
  maintain their gardens. Some community gardens
  and peer to peer learning within the community to
  improve gardening techniques

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Challenges

• How to retain and work hand in hand with the
  existing trained gardeners so that they may give
  a hand in training, motivating and mentoring more
  households.
• Market disposal for surplus. The strength of
  homestead gardening is in the numbers of
  participating households. The challenge is how to
  help them organize so that can bargain and market
  collectively.
• The same applies for bulk buying of seed and
  seedlings.
• Climate change and its impact on water shortage,
  planting calendar, pest management are factors
  which will remain a challenge until the farming
  households know how to manage them.

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Policy recommendations

• Ecological production system as an economic
  option for Lesotho
• Mass communications to support adaptive research
  and dissemination of innovations
• Fabrication and transfer of appropriate
  technologies
• Seed policy