Home gardening as a tool for curbing food insecurity

In urban and semi-urban areas here in Kenya, there is an upcoming trend of home gardening. However, this is not growing in the rate that it should, given that there is a rising burden of food insecurity globally.

This could be attributed to the global warming which has led to prolonged drought and short rainy seasons. Home gardening, as the name itself explains, if adopted by most individuals could save us from the pangs of hunger currently and in the near future.

The idea of home gardening could cross one’s mind, but the lack of information on the practicality of doing it hinders the progression of the idea.

As much as there are a lot of factors contributing to food insecurity, well maintained crops could solve a big part of this problem.

The most common types of home gardens are;

• Food sacks/polythene
• Hanging gardens
• Food towers
• Box/container gardens
• Flower beds etc.

5 reasons to do home gardening

1. It enhances food security by providing direct access to homme produced foods to households. This goes through out all seasons also.
2. A source of income. Leafy vegetables for instance provides quick returns, providing family with cash which they can use to purchase other food items.
3. Improves nutrition. Home gardening provides families with nutrients like minerals and vitamins through consumption of home grown products.
4. Allows for waste management. It minimizes waste of left over foods. They can be used to make compost manure which will then be used to enrich the soil.
5. It can be done for leisure and beauty. Growing and well maintaining crops in containers or buckets look ornamental.

4 important things to consider when doing home gardening

• Soil fertility

To maximize the productivity, maintain soil fertility at all times. This means that you can prepare organic manure by yourself or use organic fertilizers as recommended, to enrich the soil. Organic manure include; chicken droppings, compost manure or green manure.

• Water supply/irrigation

Due to unpredictable seasons these days, ensure you harvest water and use it to irrigate your crops by use of drip lines or water cans.

• Erosion control

Consider that daily watering makes soil compact and reduces water infiltration. Therefore, lay stones or mulch the top of the soil. You can also use ridges to drain off excess water.

• Good drainage

It is obvious that poor drainage will hinder proper crop growth. If the soil is too clayey, avoid it or, mix with sand soil to improve the drainage.

Home gardening is very practical and satisfying to carry out, you should already be doing it or at least considering it now, like myself. Food security is the goal.