IITA trains 300 women on homestead gardening in the Northeast

Achieving food security also involves addressing nutrient deficiency. Using the space around a house, families can often raise a homestead garden to supplement the nutritional quality of home meals. Through the USAID-funded Feed-the-future Nigeria Integrated Agriculture Activity, IITA has trained 300 women in homestead gardening in northeastern Nigeria.

he training covered five Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Borno State; namely, Bayo, Biu, Hawul, Kwaya-Kusar, and Shani. The participants learned to cultivate tomato, okra, pepper, and green leafy vegetables such as ugwu and spinach in their backyard gardens.

As well as improving household nutrition, these homestead gardens will provide an additional income source to the women.

At the end of the training, the women received improved vegetable seeds to support their new endeavor. Earlier in August and September 2020, the Integrated Agriculture Activity conducted a similar capacity building exercise for 838 women in Demsa, Fufore, Gombi, Guyuk, Hong, Song, and Yola South LGAs, Adamawa State, bringing the total women trained in the two states to 1138.