Evaluation on dwelling gardening program as a response to COVID-19 in SLM challenge’s pilot townships, January 2021 – Myanmar

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About the rating

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is working closely with the Planning Department of the Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MoALI) to implement Section 2.1.7 of the COVID-19 Economic Aid Plan (CERP). by supporting farmers, small farm processors, seed growers and farms.

To support the CERP implementation plan, the project, in collaboration with the relevant Office of the Department of Agriculture (DoA), distributed five types of vegetable seeds in Delta (i.e. watercress, eggplant, long bean, okra, roselle) and five types of vegetables in CDZ (i.e. eggplant , Long beans, okra, roselle, cucumber), watering can and brochures on home gardening to farmers in five pilot communities from June 2020. The aim of the home gardening program was to improve access to food, nutrition and food security for farmers during the COVID-19 pandemic .

Highlights

Farmers 240 farmers harvested a total of 10,389 kilograms of vegetables and generated 4,641,600 kyat as income between June and December 2020.
❖ Water accessibility, diseases / insects / pests and effects of climate change including floods and drought were identified as the main challenges.
❖ Consuming fresh vegetables in the home and generating income from selling surplus vegetables were two major benefits of this initiative.
❖ Overall, 85 percent of households in all townships consumed at least 6 out of 12 food groups. Among them, 99 percent of households have consumed vegetables in the past 24 hours.
❖ Overall, 52 percent of women (15-49 years) achieved a minimal dietary variety by consuming at least 5 out of 10 food groups in all townships.

Summary

The report contains an analysis and assessment of the horticultural program being carried out by the project “Sustainable Agriculture and Forest Management in Myanmar’s Priority Agro-Ecosystems” (SLM). House garden supports were made available 1,899 Farm households before the monsoon season. The data was collected from December 1st to 18th, 2020, when the majority of farmers had harvested their vegetables.

The results of the assessment include the total amount of fresh vegetables harvested and consumed by the household, the amount sold and income earned, problems and challenges of the home gardening program, the typical nutritional status of both households and rural women of childbearing age agricultural communities.

Objectives of the survey

This assessment has two main objectives. You are:

1) Identify the amount of fresh vegetables consumed, the amount sold, the income earned, and the problems and challenges of the home gardening program.
2) Assessment of the “Household Dietary Diversity Score” (HDDS) and the “Minimum Dietary Diversity of women of childbearing age” (MDD-W) of the rural agricultural household receiving a home garden package.