How backyard gardening brought peace at home

Scarcity of sauce is one of the biggest challenges most women face in rural communities.
Because of poverty, some parents also fail to provide a balanced meal to their children. Due to poor diet, children become malnourished.

Salume Akweny, a resident of Kachumbala village, in Kachumbala sub-county in Bukedea district says: "In past, my marriage was on the verge of collapsing due to lack of food in the house. Because of hunger, we didn't have peace at home. We could have fights daily over minor things."

Besides this, Akweny adds that on some days her children would sleep on an empty stomach. Because she could cook millet daily without sauce, sometimes children refused to eat.

Akweny is a mother of eight children. She is married to Odikor Kokas.

Since she often begged for vegetables from neighbours, a friend from Kashaboi women's group advised her to go to Kachumbala sub-county headquarters for a free training on how to have a kitchen garden at home.

She is one of the farmers who acquired training in improved agricultural practices and kitchen gardening for house hold nutrition in order to improve on her income.

The training was conducted by Production for Improved nutrition, United States Agency for International Development, (USAID) project implemented by Reco industries.

A cross section of farmers during a meeting in Pallisa district about their produce.

The training was about new farming technologies for maize, ground nuts, vegetables and soya beans. Besides this, farmers were also mentored on how to plant vegetables like egg plants, garden eggs, Nakati, Bbunga, Jobyo, ddodo, sukuma wiki, and spinach.

"After the training, I started up a kitchen garden where I get sauce daily. If it is a good season, I sell egg plants ranging from 30,000/= to 40,000/= per week during a market day.

Nathan Turyayesiima, a technical manager livelihoods and agriculture says, "So far PIN has trained over 64,139 farmers in 21 districts in Uganda. In the eastern region, farmers in 7 districts have benefited.

These include, Iganda, Bugiri, Pallisa, Mbale, Sironko, Bukedea and Tororo. In west Nile, farmers in five districts have also acquired skills. These include, Moyo, Yumbe, Malacha, Arua, Nebbi."

In addition to that, Turyayesiima adds that in the mid-west, farmers in four districts have also benefited. These include, Kiryandogo, Masindi, Hoima and Kibale. Besides this, in the south west, farmers in five districts have also benefited. These include, Kasese, Kamwenge, Ibanda, Bushenyi and Sheema.

"During the trainings conducted in various districts, farmers are trained in agronomic practices which include, seed selection, planting and spacing. Besides this, farmers also acquire knowledge in integrated pest management, soil facility management, cost benefit analysis, how to establish kitchen gardens and nutritional counselling," explains Turyayesiima.