The workshop programmes were categorised in three major sessions as sharing from the
project, learning from the stakeholders including farmers and identifying the research and
development issues to be considered in future for promoting home gardens as a source of
on-farm biodiversity management and contributors to the food security and livelihoods of the
farmers. The participants list is included in appendix 1.
SHARING FROM THE PROJECT
The session was chaired by Mr. Bharat Upadhyay, Regional Director, Regional Agricultural
Directorate, Pokhara. A total of 11 papers (details on annex 2) including the global
perspective and farmers’ perception on home gardens’ value (economic, social and
ecological) to the farmers were presented. Details on the project status and major findings
were presented. Major findings of the project are summarised here:
- Though home gardens occupy a very small proportion of the total land holdings
of the family (2-4% except in Ilam where it was 12%), they are rich in biodiversity
(up to 87 species recorded from the home gardens) - Home gardens are major sources of family vegetables and fruit supplies (60% of
the requirements fulfilled by home gardens) - Nepalese home gardens are largely vegetable-based (37-48% of total species
planted in home gardens are for vegetable purpose) but are richly integrated with
fruits, fodders, medicinal and ornamental plants - Home gardens have their own management systems and are mostly organic-
based production system with maximum utilisation of locally available resources - Farmers have very rich knowledge on home gardens species, managements
requirements and their use values - Home gardens are equally managed by male and female members of the family
and the decision making in the home gardens are made by both male and
female. Children’s’ role in home garden management is also significant
(particularly in ornamental plant species management) - Home gardens are the major sources of diversified diet supply to the family
through diverse plant genetic resources - Home gardens have been used as experimental sites, where farmers introduce
new species/varieties of plant genetic resources and also domesticate many
important plant species for their various uses - Farmers’ collective learning through exchange visits helps not only in sharing the
experiences but it also helps in enhancing the biodiversity of the gardens
LEARNING FROM THE STAKEHOLDERS
The session was chaired by Dr. Bhuwon Sthapit, Scientist and regional home garden project
Coordinator, IPGRI. A total of 11 papers including 5 from farmers were presented in the
session (Please refer Appendix 2 for details). Experiences from both government research
(NARC and National Food Nutrition Programme of Department of Foot Technology and
Quality Control, DFTQC) and extension (DoA and RAD) sectors and non-governmental
organisations (Helen Keller International and Plan Nepal) were shared. The importance of
home gardens in livelihood enhancement of the farmers was highlighted and the gaps in
home garden information and policy were elucidated during the session. Farmers’
experiences on home garden and its value was also shared during the process. At the end
of the presentation, Dr. PK Shrestha, Executive Director of LI-BIRD, summarised the
findings of home gardens. Issues on research and development aspect of home garden
including the policy implications for promotion and inclusion of home garden within the
research and development agenda of the country was presented by Dr. Shrestha. The