Even without any outdoor space, you can successfully cultivate a family garden. Many plants do well indoors, as long as they have access to the right amount of light. Through a rigorous literature review, this article first examines the definitions and characteristics of family gardens and then provides a global review of their social, economic and environmental contributions to communities in various socioeconomic contexts. Many of the compositions about family gardens share research and experiences from developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
These studies recognize the positive impacts of family gardens to address food insecurity and malnutrition, as well as to provide additional benefits, such as income and livelihood opportunities for families with limited resources and the provision of a range of ecosystem services. However, only a few case studies were found on post-crisis situations. While providing an overview of some of these studies, this review investigates the experiences of family gardens in post-conflict Sri Lanka, where home gardening has been practiced for centuries. While we emphasize the multiple benefits, we also highlight the limitations to food production in the garden.
In conclusion, we emphasize the need for more research and empirical data to evaluate the role of family gardens in crisis and post-crisis situations, as well as to evaluate their economic value and their impacts on food security, nutrition, economic growth and gender issues. The guide provides step-by-step instructions to gardeners and home farmers on environmentally friendly cultivation and management practices and strategies to increase the efficiency of small-scale agricultural production systems. An extensive bibliographic search was carried out through the review of more than 100 publications, reports and book chapters, which covered various aspects of home gardening to develop the theoretical framework. However, there is a need to research and document more empirical evidence on the value and importance of family gardens in conflict and post-conflict situations.
The two main national home gardening programs in Sri Lanka are “Api Wavamu”, “Rata Nagamu” (Let's Cultivate to Uplift the Nation) and “Divinaguma” (“Improvement of Livelihoods”). Consequently, much attention is paid to family gardens as a strategy to improve household food security and nutrition. In fact, almost half of the food consumed in the home and a third of the food sold in the market comes from these lots of orchards. Globally, family gardens have been documented as an important complementary source contributing to food and nutrition security and livelihoods.
In any case, especially for women and disadvantaged groups, home gardening is a means of social and economic enrichment. Family gardens can be described as a mixed cultivation system that encompasses vegetables, fruits, plantations, spices, herbs, ornamental and medicinal plants, as well as livestock, which can serve as a complementary source of food and income. The programs highlight the key role that family gardens play in the face of food insecurity, economic recession and malnutrition by providing a diversified source of food and a way to generate income. In addition, family gardens, when properly managed, offer a four-in-one solution to the problem of food and nutrition by increasing the availability of food in households, allowing greater physical, economic and social access, providing a variety of nutrients, and protecting and cushioning the household against shortages of Food.
Fresco and Westphal specify family gardens as a cultivation system composed of soil, crops, weeds, pathogens and insects that converts resource inputs: solar energy, water, nutrients, labor, etc. If possible, choose a relatively flat spot for your garden because it is more difficult, more time consuming and potentially expensive to treat a sloping garden. The in-depth exploration of past and more recent compositions on family gardens around the world not only confirms Landon-Lane's vision, but also recognizes additional advantages. .
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