Livelihoods Grow In Gardens

There is, in principle, no difference between the farm and the garden - same crop care, the value of soil nutrients, the strategic use of water and the knowledge that comes farm planting, transplanting, pruning and harvesting that best suits the productivity of the plants. Gardens feed people and their livestock, and provide the basis for a regular and reliable source of goods for sales at local markets. Changing weather patterns help with rotations, with the control of pests and diseases, with nutrient recycling and with the provision of employment and income.

Home Gardens for Improved Food Security and Livelihoods demonstrates how home gardens hold particular significance for resource-poor and marginalized communities in developing countries, and how they offer a versatile strategy toward building local and more resilient food systems. With food and nutritional security being a major global challenge, there is an urgent need to find innovative ways to increase food production and diversify food sources while increasing income-generating opportunities for communities faced with hunger and poverty. This book shows that when implemented properly, home gardens can become just such an innovative solution, as well as an integral part of sustainable food security programs. It provides a conceptual overview of social, economic, environmental and nutritional issues related to home gardening in diverse contexts, including gender issues and biodiversity conservation, and presents case studies from Africa, Asia and Latin America highlighting home gardening experiences and initiatives. The volume concludes with a synthesis of key lessons learned and ways forward for further enhancing home gardens for sustainable food security and development. This book will be a useful read for students and scholars working on local food systems, food security, sustainable development and more broadly development strategy.

Today, 20 percent of the global food supply relies on urban agriculture: social-ecological systems shaped by both human and non-human interactions. This book shows how urban agroecologists measure flora and fauna that underpin the ecological dynamics of these systems, and how people manage and benefit from these systems. It explains how the sociopolitical landscape in which these systems are embedded can in turn shape the social, ecological, political, and economic dynamics within them. Synthesizing interdisciplinary approaches in urban agroecology in the natural and social sciences, the book explores methodologies and new directions in research that can be adopted by scholars and practitioners alike. With contributions from researchers utilizing both social and natural science approaches, Urban Agroecology describes the current social-environmental understandings of the science, the movement and the practices in urban agroecology. By investigating the role of agroecology in cities, the book calls for the creation of spaces for food to be sustainably grown in urban spaces: an Urban Agriculture (UA) movement. Essential reading for graduate students, practitioners, policy makers and researchers, this book charts the course for accelerating this movement.

Community planning is starting to include a broader food systems focus, spanning topics such as nutrition and health outcomes, sustainable farming practices, economic and social implications of local food production, distribution, and consumption. Together, these issues are a driving force for the passions of those seeking positive change in their communities through healthy food. The purpose of this book is to explore how and where local food and farms, as part of a local or regional food system, can positively impact both economic development and overall well-being of communities. Across North America, there are good examples of the ways in which innovative local food systems provide opportunities for: increasing job growth and entrepreneurship; retaining local farmers on their land while nourishing their community; and providing communities places to congregate, bond, and become closer-knit. Six such examples are highlighted, each illustrating a novel model offering unique contributions to community economic health and well-being. These important cases offer practitioners, advocates, academics, and students insight into how applications can be built or studied in their own communities.

Adequate nutrition and education are key to the development of children and their future livelihoods. The reality facing millions of children, however, is that these essentials are far from being met. Schools can make an important contribution to countries' efforts to overcome hunger and malnutrition, and school gardens can help to improve the nutrition and education of children and their families in both rural and urban areas. FAO promotes school gardens primarily as a platform for learning, as well as a vehicle for better nutrition. Schools are encouraged to create learning gardens that are moderate in size so that they can be easily managed by students, teachers and parents, but that also allow for the production of a variety of nutritious vegetable and fruit (and where possible, some small-scale livestock such as chicken or rabbits). In preparing this manual, intended to assist school teachers, parents and the wider community, FAO has drawn upon experiences and best practices derived from school garden initiatives all over the world. Production methods are kept simple so that they can be easily replicated by students and parents at their homes. Also published in French and in Spanish.

SPIN-Farming Basics outlines how to make money growing common vegetables in backyards, front lawns,neighborhood lots or as part of larger acreages in the country. SPIN stands for small plot intensive, and SPIN-Farming Basics provides everything you'd expect from a good franchise: a business concept, marketing advice, financial benchmarks and a detailed day-to-day workflow. It is non-technical, easy-to-understand and inexpensive-to-implement and shows readers how to farm commercially wherever they live, as long as there are nearby markets to support them.

The study sites. Methods. The wealth index and its variation. Human, financial, physical and natural capital - the essets available to households. Households productive activities - the generation of cash and subsistence gross income. Exploring household strategies. Net income and poverty. Temporal changes in livelihood strategies. Modelling livelihood change. Making a difference.