Securing Nutrition Enhancing Resilience (SENU) Project
Khandwa district is located in Madhya Pradesh. It has an area of 6,206 km and a population of 1,310,061 (2011 census). It is located in the Nimar region, which includes the lower valley of the Narmada River, Kherkhali River, Chhoti Tawa River and Shiv River. Khandwa District comprises 710 Revenue and 54 Forest Villages. The people mostly depend on rainfed farming due to lack of irrigation facilities.
Harsha Trust’s Project Securing Nutrition Enhancing Resilience (SENU) in the rural sector is operated under the joint aegis of the Government of India (GoI) and Germany (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH) to improve the status of rural nutrition. Khandwa district has been included in this program. Under the program, MGNREGA planned to establish a community nutrition garden on government land, employ the group, and provide nutrition to pregnant and lactating women.
Sitaberi, The Village of Ethnic Tribes
Handiyakheda is a Panchayat in Pandhana Block of Khandwa District. This panchayat has a small hamlet named Sitaberi, located on the right side of the main paved road from Gudi to Handiyakheda, 2 km from the unpaved road. Sitaberi is a settlement of 190 families with a total population of 1193, with 565 females and 628 males, tribal in ethnicity. Agriculture is the chief livelihood source and the village economy’s mainstay.
The village is surrounded by forests from where women fetch firewood and sell it in the Gudi market to intermediaries four times a week. Women also migrate in search of better livelihood opportunities, which in turn affect the health and nutrition of their children as well. Village Sitaberi is in the Padhana block of Khandwa district in Madhya Pradesh. It houses 190 families, with a majority of the population from Gond, Bhil, Bhilala, Barela and Korku tribes, who rely on agriculture and agriculture-related labour for their livelihoods.
Livelihoods and Nutrition – The Interconnect
In Sitaberi, the land is filled with stones, and limited water is available for cultivation. Hence, communities of Sitaberi rely mostly on Gudi the market for seasonal vegetables and fruits is five kilometers chased vegetables suffer risks of perishability, seasonality, bulkiness, quality variation, irregular supply, high storage cost, transportation cost, damage cost, lack of cold storage, exploitative practices of intermediaries, lack of proper grading and quality control.
Improper storage of fruits and vegetables can lead to waste and discourage people from buying. Also, the village becomes inaccessible during monsoons as there is no paved road, due to which fresh fruits and vegetables are not available there during the season. This affects the nutritional security and minimises livelihood options of the community.
Community Nutrition Garden – A Participatory Approach to Vegetable Production
GIZ’s Securing Nutrition, Enhancing Resilience (SENU) project – initiated the development of a Community Nutrition Garden (CNG) in the village to combat malnutrition with the help of its implementing partners, SRIJAN and Harsha Trust. After identifying a suitable patch of land, the Panchayat members and SHGs were oriented in several meetings, and finally Self-Help Group (SHG) agreed to take on the project. However, obtaining permission from the Panchayat and MGNREGA was a challenge due to the novelty of the idea.
The women of the SHG were undeterred by this and requested permission to use the land for five years as a nutrition garden. Due to the women’s enthusiasm and continued support and orientation from the implementation partners, the proposal was approved by the Gram Sabha. Work codes were issued under various schemes, and permissions were granted by the Sarpanch. The land was cleared of large and small stones, and 625 saplings were planted, including fruits like mango, guava, drumstick and custard-apple and vegetables like cauliflower, tomato, eggplant, and chili.
Enhanced Production, Consumption and Employment
Within six months, the once-barren land was transformed into a thriving garden full of nutritious vegetables and fruit-bearing trees producing 78 kg. The SHG uses the produce for their consumption and generously provides vegetables to the Anganwadi Centre (ECCE centre) and the school’s Mid-Day Meals program. Additionally, they could sell vegetables worth ₹ 1,340/- creating a new source of income. They now go to sell fuel wood once a week or not at all.
Thanks to the SHG’s partnership with MGNREGA, each member could work for an average of 15 days and earn wages totaling ₹ 3,060/-. This partnership also provided work opportunities for other members of the community. The government has recognised this pioneering Community Nutrition Garden as a model initiative and receives numerous visitors. Moreover, it has inspired adjacent villages to start their community nutrition gardens.
Key Highlights of the Intervention
- Extensive outreach to Panchayat to educate them about CNGs
- Harnessing and supporting the enthusiasm of the SHG members by implementation partners
- Ensuring capacity building
- 22 household engaged
- 15 workdays generated
- ₹ 3060/- revenues generated
- 78 Kg vegetables produced
“Carrying forward the legacy of the sun, even fireflies dispel the darkness in their little way.”
Quotes from the field —
We had never seen or heard anything like this before. We trusted the people who guided and trained us and started the work. Today, it feels truly rewarding to see the results.
— Laxmi Bai
As the soil was very hard and stony, it was initially difficult to convince the Panchayat to support us. But we didn’t give up. Even when we started the work, we faced many challenges. The water pump broke down several times. But we continued to work, garnered support from the Panchayat, and today it feels amazing to see this piece of land flourishing with greenery.
— Sheela Bai
Challenges and Learnings
The awareness of health and nutrition is still relatively low amongst women, who are further marginalised due to patriarchal gender norms, which adversely affect women’s food habits. This, in turn, affects their nutrition outcomes adversely. We are persistently working towards addressing the same.
Way forward
A second batch of seeds for seasonal additions to the Community Nutrition Garden will be disbursed in the SHG meetings in the coming months, consisting of spinach, fenugreek, carrot, brinjal, tomato, okra, coriander and other vegetables. Digging a new well, establishing seed bank and starting sowing for the millet crops are the further plans. Also, focusing on nutrition education for women to dispel age-old taboos which mire the growth and development of girls and women will be the way forward.
