The Quest for Building Nutrition Security through Home Gardening continues

The Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with the Association of the Evangelical Churches of St. Vincent and the Grenadines launched the “Enhancing Household Food and Nutrition Security through Home Gardening” project on Monday 23rd January, 2023 at the Ministry of Agriculture Conference Room.

The main aim of the project is to enhance household food and nutrition security with its key objectives being:

- To enhance the capacity of five (5) youth groups to provide a sustainable source of fruit and vegetable seedlings to home gardeners and farmers.

- To improve the capacity of seventy-five (75) youth farmers and home gardeners to establish and successively cultivate fruits and vegetables.

Deputy Chief Agricultural Officer, Colville King reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment in promoting sustainable initiatives and opportunities for women and youths in Agriculture. Mr. King expects that this project would inspire citizens to align their eating habits with the National Food-based Dietary Guidelines, therefore addressing key health issues such as malnutrition and noncommunicable diseases.

Senior Technical Officer, Rural Transformation Unit, Mrs. Currel Thompson-Fergus stated that the project will only support home gardens up to 4000 sq ft by providing seedlings and technical support. She made mention of other ongoing home gardening projects with seventy-five (75) households and five (5) established youth groups.

President of the Association of Evangelical Churches of SVG, Dr. Reynold Murray indicated that the decision to allocate donated funds to food security emerged as a result of inflation and increased prices for food.