Low input gardens improve nutrition and empower women in rural area

In Zimbabwe, one out of every three children suffers from chronic malnutrition, leading to high levels of stunting and poor cognitive development. Children in Zimbabwe suffer from malnutrition; families fail to meet basic food needs because of low incomes.

Low-productivity agricultural practices and lack of access to markets also affected the food security of most rural Zimbabweans, whose livelihoods depend on their own production. In the country’s rural, however, women are beginning to empower themselves to grow with the help from Action contre la Faim (ACF). They are now able to sell their own foods and prepare healthy, nutritious meals to improve the well-being of their families.

Action contre la Faim (ACF) and its partners Nutrition Action Zimbabwe (NAZ) and Africa AHEAD (AA) have increased households access to nutritious foods and change behaviors related to health and nutrition across Mwenezi and Chiredzi districts, in Masvingo Province. With our support, women have created low input gardens filled with spinach, carrots, peas, sugar beans, tomatoes, onion and other crops. They practice improved health and nutritional behavior to ensure their children will grow up healthy and strong. In total, 286 low input gardens were created in both Mwenezi and Chiredzi at household level.

Before the project, women in these communities were not familiar with other types of vegetables, they used to grow vegetables, which include spinach, covo, tomatoes and onions. The intervention introduced them to other vegetables like butternut, peas and green beans for a more diversified diet. Since the project began, women have seen significant improvements in their gardens, including increased access to nutritious foods and improved soil conservation. Our team conducted training on how to grow variety of vegetables and also provide the beneficiaries with water cans and hoes for the gardens.

Eddith Ngoro (52) a widow and a mother of five children from Chiredzi, is one of the project beneficiaries. “We didn’t know a lot of things before, especially on the importance of growing variety of vegetables which are nutritious. Now we have low input gardens and we are growing spinach, carrots, tomatoes and other vegetables. Our children eat better and healthy food now.”