Policy Supportive Issues in Home Gardening with Respect to
Agricultural Bio-diversity and Improving Rural Livelihood
Bharat Upadhyay
ABSTRACT
The significance of home gardens in the Nepalese farming systems lies in meeting
nutritional requirements of the family, providing a supplementary source of farm income,
often supplementing the cash need during the gap period of cereal farming, involving women
in larger proportion. Home gardening is recognized as a microcosm of agricultural bio-
diversity. Unavailability of national data on home gardens is the major limitation to determine
the exact contribution of the home garden in the agricultural sector. The Department of
agriculture does not have any exclusive programme to promote home gardens in holistic
approaches so far. Despite the focus of Tenth Five year plan on biodiversity management,
the department continues to implement regular extension programs related to "kitchen
gardening" covering vegetable minikits but it has not emphasized the use of local resources
in the community. Therefore, the programs need to be completely reformulated in the
context of home gardening. Home gardening covers the areas more than vegetables,
basically focuses on the use of local resource and covers broad areas like livestock,
vegetables, fruits, fodders and many other components that are of immediate use to the
local community. Current agricultural policies are primarily framed within the framework of
commercialization that extensively relies on external inputs, contrary to the objectives of this
project. Home gardening should primarily be based on indigenous farming and mostly
organic which should have more valuable commercial niches. Roles of non-governmental
organizations, community based organizations and farmer groups should be strengthened
as implementing organisations and the governments’ role should be limited to policy
formulation and facilitating tasks. Since most farm undertaking home gardening enterprises
are women and subsistent, the government should have such incentives built-in, in its
programmes. Can the farmer field school concept of integrated pest management program
be adopted to the decision making process and strengthening farmer-to-farmer extension?
Farmers have the right to protect and use such resources for their socio-economic benefit. In
the WTO context, their rights need to be protected and established. Home gardening
becomes the most important purview of such rights. Any promotional programs to advance
home gardening in the Nepalese context will have access to sustainable financial resources.
An appropriate market strategy supporting home garden as a viable enterprise should be
developed rather than supporting hi-tech product marketing. Local agriculture development
funds should be established in line with drinking water funds, etc. and a portion of it must be
used to encourage and uplift the ongoing home garden programme.
Key word: Home garden, agricultural policy, biodiversity, kitchen gardening
INTRODUCTION
Home gardening has been an integral part of the Nepalese farming systems that have
evolved from generation to generation. The farming systems are characterized by a
sustainable integration of crops, livestock, fishery, herb and agro-forestry organized into
small to medium farm enterprises around the homestead and neighbourhood. Traditionally,
homestead farming comprises vegetables, medicinal crops, ornamental crops, livestock,
fishery, agro-forestry and home-building materials producing crops such as bamboo and
others that fulfil home requirements. However, meeting the nutritional need of the family has