Climate Smart Nutritional Sensitive Home Garden (CSNSHG) program aims to increase the nutrition level of the farming families the food security of the household. This program implemented in all 11 district will establish sustainable home gardens applying Climate Smart practices to assure the availability of vegetables, fruits and yams at farmer households. It is proposed to establish 2695 home gardens in 11 districts with 4920 farm families. The estimated total cost of this project is Rs; 221.73 million. The Climate Smart Home Garden Program is implemented only with the participation of women famers. It is expected that by this program women farmers are provided greater access to agriculture expertise, participation in local cultivation planning and decision making; they are also provided adequate representation at all levels in relevant planning and decision making.
Above all three programs are implemented following the launch of the Saubhagya National Food Production Drive of the Government of Sri Lanka persuading the cultivation of food crops Nutrient sensitive climate smart home gardens are identified as the women farmer based activity targeting to empower women farmers. Hence under the Home Garden Programm women farmers are provided greater access to agriculture expertise, participation in local cultivation planning and decision making; they are also provided adequate representation at all levels in relevant planning and decision making addressing the gender gap. To this single women, women headed families, widows and socially excluded women also will be included.
In this program women are encouraged to undertake cultivation of vegetables, fruits, and condiments at their home gardens achieving household food security while opening avenues to have sustainable source of income to the household. By effectively involving with this home gardening program women can contribute to fulfill the family’s food and nutrition requirement through the home garden , improve family’s food consumption pattern and to minimizing the cost of food requirements of the family. The National Nutrition Policy in Sri Lanka iterates, ‘The nutritional well-being of a population is influenced by determinants that cut across the areas of responsibilities of different sectors and agencies. Household food insecurity, for example, is influenced by factors such as health, education, employment, food availability and food affordability, and leads to malnutrition’. Therefore, CSNSHG will improve the existing situation and conditions of the rural community through the women empowerment.