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Discussion about entry: Gardens for Health
This is discussion about Gardens for Health.
Comentários
“This is a great initiative! We’re interested in learning more about how these individuals will be able to reach the market? Also, how do they earn enough revenue for repayment? Thanks for your entry and we look forward to your responses!”
- Naveen Shakir, Ashoka’s Changemakers
On January 18, 2010 the judges reviewed the entries for the Changemakers Improved Nutrition: Solutions through Innovation competition and would like to pass on the following feedback (listed below) for your entry. Thank you for applying and for your hard work in the field. We are excited to archive your entry to serve as a leading solution for the worldwide community of innovators. We wish you continued luck with your innovative, sustainable, and socially impactful initiatives.
All the best, The Changemakers Team
“The focus of this initiative on nutrition through agriculture and the linkages to local organizations is a great approach. I would really like to learn more about this initiative’s plans for sustainability.”
- Changemakers Improved Nutrition: Solutions through Innovation Judges
Naveen, great question and one that is very much on our minds these days!
Forming strong market linkages is a critical component of our program as it both allows cooperatives to become self-sustaining and ensures repayment of community garden loans. Rwanda's economy is growing demand for a variety of crops--both staples and vegetables--nevertheless, we hedge our bets a bit and promote the sale of a variety of crops.
We believe that community gardens can be both nourishing and
profitable--farmers don't have to be forced to grow one-cash crop. On a smaller scale, surplus produce post-distribution (primarily vegetables) from the community gardens is sold at local markets. GHI staff trains cooperatives to make their harvest market-ready (washed, sorted, etc) and to research trends in various crops. Cooperatives that plan in advance receive assistance with transportation. However, we are looking to improve this system and are currently fundraising for a truck. Cooperatives would pay a subsidized fee for transportation to market, resulting in greater efficiency and a small revenue stream.
On a larger scale, cooperatives are currently growing staple crops (maize, beans, and soy) on an additional hectare of land. These crops are less labor intensive, and they are also easier to store and sell. GHI staff and cooperative leadership met with a number of potential buyers and, this particular season, cooperatives will be selling to a Rwandan food-aid manufacturer. Staple crops are effectively the currency in which GHI is repaid for its community garden loans. We emphasize the sale of staple crops because 1) the market is not as volatile as that for vegetables--demand is consistently high and cooperatives can store staples until the price is right--and 2) we are a nutrition program and, through our nutrition training, emphasize consumption of vegetables.
GHI staff is currently training cooperatives on post-harvest management of the current (bumper!) crop of maize. We believe that, over the course of a couple of growing seasons, cooperatives will retain enough capital to invest in better harvest tools and storage facilities and increase staple crop productivity.