Book of abstracts 2015, pp. 782-794
Under nutrition and food insecurity are major problems faced by most of the developing
countries including Tanzania. Foods with high nutrient content are difficult
to find in the poorer rural areas where most people are dependent on staple foods
with little diversity. Kitchen gardens play an important role in fulfiling dietary and
nutritional needs. This study sought to investigate the perceptions and practices by
farmers on how kitchen gardening can be transformed into a sustainable nutrition and
livelihood strategy in order to come up with information not only on socio-economic
sustainability but also on the environmental sustainability of kitchen gardens in rural
Tanzania.
Focus group discussions, key informant interviews, field observations and secondary
sources of data were used. The researcher used observation guide to identify some of
the issues that could not come out clearly during focus group discussions. The study
was undertaken in Idifu village, Chamwino district in Dodoma. A total of 28 farmers
were involved.
Only 18% of households practised kitchen gardening. It was regarded as the activity
of women. About 80% of the respondents did not have indicted budget to buy seeds
and inputs for kitchen gardening. About 85% of farmers indicated it has a potential
to be a secondary source of income. Water was a limiting factor in 78% of the participants.
About 80% of farmers did not posses radios, and 20% possessed radios but
sometimes they lacked money to buy batteries. This constraints the spread of kitchen
gardening information through media.
This study confirms that kitchen gardening can be changed into a sustainable nutrition
and livelihood strategy in Chwamino district and other similar environments if the
farmers have access to training on the sustainable use of natural resources such as
water and land and can afford adequate access to resources.