In the malnutrition-prone Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh, where children experience stunted growth and women are anaemic, growing organic vegetables in nutrition gardens is improving the health of villagers, while helping them save money.
When poverty hits, survival becomes the priority. Suppressing hunger with just one meal at best is what’s possible. Naturally, nutrition takes the back seat.
In Samsa Tarhar village of Bahraich district in Uttar Pradesh the situation is alarming. According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), 2019-21 for India, more than 70 percent of all children aged under five years in Bahraich district are anaemic.
The simple solution to this grim situation is providing nutritious meals to the families. But how to make nutritious food accessible and affordable in a sustainable way? The solution has to feature something that doesn’t fade away once the support stops, something the villagers can do themselves. That’s how Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) came up with the idea of poshan vatika or nutrition gardens. These nutri-gardens are an integral part of IndusInd Bank’s CSR initiative of aspirational district development programme in partnership with AKF in Bahraich district.
A poshan vatika or nutrition garden is a small patch of land owned by a family which is converted into a vegetable garden. AKF provides a kit to all the selected families. The kit includes seeds of eight seasonal vegetables, compost and other resources needed to set up a garden. The individual families maintain their garden.
The families that don’t have land are provided with grow bags where they can plant these seeds. Over 150 poshan vatikas have been set up in Bahraich district. Out of these, about 10 percent are for landless farmers.
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The main idea behind this programme is to target anaemic and pregnant women, in addition to malnourished kids.
“The number of anaemic women in this area was high. Also, the pregnant women were not getting proper nutrition,” said Ajay Singh, AKF’s block coordinator.
Kiran Singh, 27, was the first one in her village to make a poshan vatika near her house. She converted her family’s half-a-bigha land into a vegetable garden.
Kiran has been associated with AKF since March 2023 and started growing vegetables on her land. Since then, her large family comprising her children, cousins and in-laws eats green veggies and healthy food every single day. She proudly showed off her recently sowed land where she has just put in seeds of vegetables like bottle gourd, bitter gourd, tomato, green chilly and others.
“Thanks to these nutrition gardens, the villagers can now grow spinach, soya and other high nutrition crops,” said Ajay Singh.
When the first poshan vatika was created, people were quite apprehensive. They often doubted the intentions behind the programme. But when Kiran Singh’s family witnessed immense health and financial benefits, the community came around.
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“Earlier we had to go out and buy vegetables worth Rs 150 for a day. This was too costly for us and often we would end up just eating dal or potato,” Kiran Sinch recalled. But now the family has access to seasonal vegetables all year long.
The programme has also encouraged people to become micro-entrepreneurs. Kiran has also set up a nursery to supply organic seedlings. This fetches her an extra income of about Rs 3,000-4,000 every month. There are other women like Kiran who are following in her footsteps and earning a side income from their nursery business.
Ajay Singh said that the families are able to save about Rs 4,000 every month by growing their own vegetables.
“I had severe allergies and even caught a bad skin infection. As I started eating healthier food, my overall health has improved gradually. Even my children seem to have become fitter in just one year of continuously having green vegetables in their meals,” said Kiran Singh.
She also prepares compost and gives it away to nearby families for the better health of their gardens.
Kiran Singh has inspired many women in her village to go for these nutrition gardens – 42-year-old Shashi Chauhan being one of them. For her, the health of her three children was top priority. This led her to convert her piece of land into a garden, to grow vegetables like cabbage and Napier grass.
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“We also understood the importance of organic vegetables. Earlier we were consuming vegetables grown using harmful chemicals. This adversely affected the health of our children. I feel there has been an overall improvement in our family’s health since we started consuming organic vegetables from our garden,” said Chauhan.
Since this solution requires minimal expenditure, it has proved to be successful and approachable. Once the families understand the value addition done by these nutrition gardens, they take this solution to other villages, making it a community-driven and sustainable programme.
The lead image shows Radhika Devi in her lush nutrition garden where she grows vegetables like okra. (Photo by Shreya Pareek)
This story has been covered as part of a special collaboration between Village Square and Aga Khan Foundation to highlight stories of change in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh.
Shreya Pareek, a Uttarakhand-based solution journalist, is a Village Square Fellow ’23.
