Rural women started growing backyard vegetable garden to prevent malnutrition
Women leaders from Nagar taluka in Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra attended a training on health, nutrition, sanitation and food security using Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) methods on 8-9 February, 2022 in Jamkhed town. Thirty-eight leaders, representing over 80 villages and 6000 rural women belonging to Self-Help Groups (SHGs) attended three sessions organized by SSP. Participants agreed to reach out to women in their villages to spread awareness on the above issues.
Grassroots women leaders and the SSP team, who had undergone Training of Trainers training, facilitated this two-day workshop. The major topics addressed during the meeting were malnutrition, importance of a balanced diet, nutrition and health. Practical exercises where women brought items belonging to different food groups and discussed how to include them in their daily household diet were carried out. Information on Aanganwadi’s and its role in supporting children, adolescent girls and pregnant women’s nutrition was also given to leaders. Connected with health and nutrition, leaders were encouraged to promote organic food crop cultivation amongst their village SHG members to improve immunity and maintain household food security.
Leaders were also trained on conducting Transect Walks, an activity that involves walking through the village and identifying community issues like water, sanitation, access to services etc. This was followed by a discussion on how to deal with emerging issues at a village level by approaching the Gram Panchayat.
The objective of this training, as explained by Tabassum Momin, who is a part of SSP’s team in Ahmednagar, is to create awareness on the linkages between health, nutrition, food security and household organic vegetable cultivation. It is important for rural families, especially those that are landless, to recognize that growing a backyard vegetable garden is an excellent way to prevent malnutrition and reduce household expenditure on food and health.
Swayam Shikshan Prayog
18th February, 2022