The home gardens established through the Home Grown School Feeding Project are providing families with a practical and sustainable way to improve access to fresh, nutritious food particularly during periods when schools are closed and school feeding programs are not operating.
Through the home gardening initiative, households learned how to grow vegetables directly within their own compounds, including spinach, carrots, and tomatoes. Families were able to harvest fresh produce from their gardens and use it to prepare nutritious meals for their children, reducing their reliance on purchasing vegetables from the market.
The importance of these gardens becomes even greater during school holidays. When children no longer receive meals through school feeding programmes, families can turn to their own gardens as an additional source of nutritious food. Instead of depending entirely on market purchases, parents can harvest fresh vegetables directly from their homes.
Beyond the vegetables produced, the intervention has left families with knowledge and practical skills that can continue to benefit them long after the project has ended. Home gardening empowers households to produce part of their own food, strengthen dietary diversity, and build greater resilience during periods when external food assistance is unavailable.
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