Food security is pivotal for good health of human beings with rich nutrition, but changes in climate patterns are shrinking the food and have left some institutions at pains to pave the way for solutions to it; at this point Home Garden (HG) comes out with one of its solutions along with other new modern scientific techniques.
In this contemporary era of technology, some institutions around the world were making all-out efforts for gaining access to scientific as well state-of-the-art techniques and terming HGs as one of the sound approaches to food security.
Asia-Pacific Network (APN) for Global Change Research, a regional platform, is also one of its 22 member countries, coping with the challenges of global change and sustainability in the region.
APN funded-project titled, “Vulnerability of Home Garden Systems to Climate Change and its impacts on Food Security in South Asia” has provided a deep understanding of fresh veggies to the people with opportunities of household income.
Recently, APN in collaboration with University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, organised a South Asia Media Visit to Kandy, Sri Lanka for Journalists of eight countries to highlight Home Gardens value.
According to the above study, “The home gardens in study areas showed resilience to climate change and had a considerable contribution to household food security.”
Home Garden is a term used for an agroforestry system, combining multiple farming components such as crops, trees, shrubs, herbs, livestock and occasionally fisheries.”
It is said that Home Gardens’ total area in South Asia is about 200 million hectors and over 80 percent of home gardens in the region (South Asia) are extremely small with an average size of 0.6 hectares (the size of a small football field), the APN document added.
According to data available on the website of Ministry of National Food Security and Research, Pakistan, the agriculture sector contributes 21.4 percent to the GDP and employs 45 percent of the labour force.
One in three Pakistanis does not have a regular and assured access to food. The most vulnerable are children, particularly girls, women and the elderly, especially among the lower income groups.”, it adds.
The slow process of technological innovations and the poverty, food security and food safety remain major challenging issues in the country.
Apart from other major looming issues on food security, agricultural lands in Pakistan, particularly in urban centres, are also being converted into housing projects by cutting short local cultivation of vegetables which is depriving people of healthy veggies.
In some parts of the country, growers are cultivating vegetables with contaminated water and introducing chemicals to grow foods quicker, which is creating health problems for the people.
Home Garden Systems and awareness about their importance are the need of the hour to meet the demand of healthy veggies for the people in the country.
Research institutions, policy makers and all those who are connected directly or indirectly with the agriculture and food security should focus on the new and scientific techniques to improve the food security in Pakistan.
According to World Food Program (WFP), the food security means when: “People are food secure when they have availability and adequate access to food all the time to maintain a healthy and active life.”
The proper planning for home garden systems in the urban areas of the country can bring a positive change to the lives of the people in terms of healthy foods.