Home Gardens in Nepal

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Study sites

The altitudinal variation was one of the major criteria for the study site selection, but the
ethnicity, accessibility and community interest were also considered. Dudrakshya Village
Development Committee (VDC)^3 of Rupandehi terai,^4 and Darbar Devisthan VDC of Gulmi
mid-hill were selected for the study purpose.

Sampling

Individual households were the sampling units. The households were selected using a
simple random sampling technique. One hundred and thirty four households were sampled
using the following formula according to Shrestha et al. (1999);

n =NZ^2 P(1-P)/[Nd^2 + Z^2 P(1-P)] where,
n= samples size,
N= number of households in the study village,
Z=the value of normal variable (1.64) for a reliability level of 0.90,
P= the highest possible proportion (0.5),
d= sampling error (0.1)

Table 1. Sample size of the household surveyed for home garden study in the Terai and hill
sites of Nepal (n=134). 2003
Ecology District Study site Population
Size (HH)

Sample

size (HH)

Percent

Terai

(approx 100 masl)

Rupandehi Bharsa 120 43 35

Baikuntha-

pur

140 49 35

Mid-hill

(800-1200 masl)

Gulmi Darbar

Devisthan

94 42 44

Total 354 134 38

The survey consisted of two sections, species information in one section and the
demographic information in the other. Finalisation of the questionnaire was made after pre-
testing in a village adjacent to the research site. Enumerators scheduled the interview with
the respondents with the prior informed consent of two days. The inventory of plant species
grown in each home garden was carried out together with the interview with the respondent
simultaneously. For quality control, the surveyed questionnaires were edited and revised in
different tiers, first by the enumerator himself, then through peer review and editing among
enumerators and final editing by the researcher on the same date.

Measurement of crop species diversity

Crop species inventory was recorded at the household level through a household survey and
validated by direct observation. Overall crop species diversity was estimated using Diversity
Indices (Powers and McSorley, 2000) from the species inventory. The study excluded
ornamental species, which do not relate immediately to food security. In many instances,
farmers had given local names to the species they harboured in their home gardens and
were difficult to identify in some cases. For such cases, the plant samples and photographs

(^3) The smallest geographical political units
(^4) Terai represents the extension of the fertile indo-gangetic plains extending from east to west of Nepal on the
southern plains of the country. It’s also known as the ‘granary’ of Nepal.