A home gardening approach developed in South Africa to address vitamin A deficiency.

Abstract

Home gardening, focusing on provitamin A-rich vegetables, is a long-term strategy that can contribute to combating vitamin A and other nutritional deficiencies which are of public health significance in developing countries. The provitamin A carotenoid content of foods and their potential contribution towards meeting the vitamin A requirements of the target population are predominant considerations in the selection of crops to be planted. This chapter describes a home garden approach that integrates gardening activities with nutrition education, using community-based growth monitoring as entry point. Studies using this approach in South Africa showed a favourable effect on maternal knowledge of vitamin A nutrition, dietary intake of provitamin A-rich vegetables, caregiver-reported child morbidity and children's vitamin A status. Provitamin A-rich vegetables and fruits contributed significantly towards achieving the recommended dietary intake of vitamin A and various other micronutrients. Seasonal availability of provitamin A-rich vegetables and fruits needs to be taken into consideration to ensure year-round availability of provitamin A-rich foods. The approach is flexible and entry points other than community-based growth monitoring can be used to promote production and consumption of provitamin A-rich vegetables and fruits. Demonstration gardens to serve as training centres, community-based nurseries for orange-fleshed sweet potato cuttings and a seed distribution system are important components of the home garden projects. Various constraints experienced with vegetable gardens and possible solutions are highlighted. Participation in gardening projects is self-selective. Non-participating households within the project areas are, however, exposed to the promotion activities, resulting in a spill-over effect to non-participating households.