Nutrition garden interventions in improving production, dietary diversity and livelihood security

Le résumé fourni par la source

Food insecurity and malnutrition remain critical challenges in developing countries, necessitating nutrition-sensitive agricultural interventions to enhance household food and livelihood security.The present study evaluated the impact of the Nutri-Smart Village (NSV) approach implemented under the All India Coordinated Research Project on Women in Agriculture (AICRP-WIA), University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, in five villages of Sidlaghatta taluk, Chikkaballapura district of Karnataka. An ex-post facto research design was followed with 150 farm families purposively selected as beneficiaries.The interventions included establishment of homestead nutrition gardens, promotion of millets and nutrient-rich crops, beekeeping, and mushroom cultivation. Data were collected through structured interviews before and after intervention and analyzed using percentage analysis and paired comparison tests. Results revealed substantial improvement in area under diversified crops, with green leafy vegetables increasing from 3.11 m² to 9.28 m² and other vegetables from 3.48 m² to 10.34 m². Production of green leafy vegetables increased from 10.58 kg/year to 46.41 kg/year, while other vegetables rose from 18.60 kg/year to 201.79 kg/year. Household consumption of nutritious food groups significantly improved, indicating enhanced dietary diversity and nutrition awareness. Newly introduced enterprises such as chia seeds, grain amaranth, millets, honey production, and mushroom cultivation contributed to both nutritional enhancement and livelihood diversification. Marketable surplus and income generation also improved considerably. The economic value of production increased from ?2,844.19 to ?26,123.81 after intervention.The study demonstrated that the Nutri-Smart Village approach effectively strengthens agriculture nutrition linkages, improves household food consumption, enhances income opportunities, and promotes sustainable livelihood security among small and marginal farm families.

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