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FROM THE FIELD

Home Gardens Reduce Hunger in Ecuador
24 Mar 2009 20:49:00 GMT
 Source: Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) International
Nadia McGill

Website: Website: http://www.adra.org

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A little girl in the Cotopaxi highlands shyly poses for the camera.
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A little girl in the Cotopaxi highlands shyly poses for the camera.
Hearly Mayr/ADRA International

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SILVER SPRING, Md.--In Ecuador, where stunting from chronic malnutrition affects one in every four children under five, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) launched a one-year agricultural project to teach some 400 low-income families living in coastal and highland areas how to cultivate home gardens as a way to raise their incomes, improve the nutritional status of their children, and conserve natural resources.

This one-year project, which is being implemented in 20 communities throughout the provinces of Cotopaxi, Chimborazo, Los Rios, Guayas, and Manabi with funding from ADRA International, is worth $99,750, and is scheduled to run until September 2009. At the end of the project, each community will organize a food fair to expand awareness to surrounding communities about the benefits of home garden agriculture.

"Recipients are not only gaining the benefit of learning how to grow and maintain their own personal gardens," said Ruth Bejarano, Operations and Projects Director for ADRA Ecuador, "but they are taking part in nutritional workshops that aim to increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables, and teach them how to prepare dishes that are both healthy and economical."

Local communities will benefit significantly, said Bejarano, citing the continual threat of flooding that the rainy season brings every year, which destroys the short cycle crops that are carefully planted by the agricultural population.

In addition, home gardens help protect the financial resources of the targeted families by freeing up their household income for other necessities, while still allowing them to enjoy a balanced diet, an important factor when the majority of the targeted population suffers from nutritional deficiencies.

Chronic malnutrition among Ecuadorian children remains a significant problem, affecting 26 per cent of children under the age of five, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Particularly affected are indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian children who are more likely to grow up poor.

"This project means a better future for thousands," said Bejarano. "The food and education that these communities are receiving is changing and saving lives."

ADRA has been active in Ecuador since 1985, providing humanitarian assistance through initiatives in the areas of food security, economic development, health, emergency management, and education.

ADRA is a non-governmental organization present in 125 countries providing sustainable community development and disaster relief without regard to political or religious association, age, gender, race or ethnicity.

For more information about ADRA, visit www.adra.org.

Author: Nadia McGill




[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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