Mainstreaming findings of home garden project for on-farm biodiversity management
and improving livelihoods: Policy and programme implications
Pratap K Shrestha, Resham Gautam and Bhuwon Sthapit
Abstract:
Home gardens in Nepal are traditionally practiced intensive production systems maintained
around the homestead; often integrating crops, fruits, spices, herbs, medicinal plants, fodder
trees, livestock, fisheries, and apiaries often characterized by low-input soil and water
management. Despite their richness in biodiversity and major contribution to meeting family
food, nutrition and income requirements, home gardens has remained as neglected and
under-utilized resources for the families, communities' government and formal research
sector. The paper discusses characteristic features of the Nepalese home gardens and
scope, need for research and development interventions based on the experiences from the
project and elsewhere. It also discusses research and development issues and implications
for policy and programme interventions in Nepal
Key words: Home gardens, biodiversity, food security, nutrition, policy issues, Nepal
Background
Home gardens are an integral part of the livelihood systems, and could contribute to the
family food, income and the conservation of biodiversity (Shrestha et al., 2004). The home
garden project, implemented jointly by Local Initiatives for Biodiversity Research and
Development (LI-BIRD) and International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI now
Bioversity International) with funding support from Swiss Development Corporation (SDC),
has provided empirical evidences to support these claims. However, home gardens have
remained neglected in terms of research and development interventions. It has not received
adequate recognition as an important production system in the national policy, development
plans and statistics. The papers presented and discussions organized during the first
national workshop on Home gardens on 6-7 August 2004, Pokhara have explicitly identified
characteristic features of the Nepalese home gardens, and development and policy
implications for further research and development priorities and interventions. This paper
summarizes key findings of the workshop and draws policy and development implications for
mainstreaming home gardens for on-farm biodiversity management and livelihood
enhancement of the people.
Characteristic features of home gardens
The home gardens in Nepal vary in shape, size, composition and structure, and are
maintained for the various functions they serve. The main characteristic features of the
Nepalese home gardens are summarized below.
Home garden as a defined and holistic system of production
Home gardens involve management of multipurpose trees, shrubs, annual and perennial
agricultural crops, herbs, spices, medicinal plants, fish ponds, and animals on the same land
unit, in a spatial arrangement or on a temporal sequence (Eyzaguirre and Linares, 2004).
Almost all households grow plants of some value around their homestead and more than 72
per cent of households in Nepal maintain home garden of recognizable size (Gautam et al.,
2004). As a distinct and functional production system, home gardens in Nepal have following
features:
It is an integrated system of production around homestead. Several species of plant
are cultivated and maintained by the family members of the households primarily for
their own consumption (Shrestha et. al., 2004).