Nutrition Garden – A Route to Improve Diet Diversity in the Family Circle: A Lesson from a Field Experience of Bihar

This paper is an attempt to focus on the effects of establishing a nutrition garden or a backyard farm, 
with other sub-systems, for a regular supply of fresh and leafy green vegetables to the kitchen, thereby 
increasing diet diversity and reducing the micro-nutrient deficiencies of the family circle. The field 
experience is taken from a pilot project being implemented by State Rural Livelihood Mission/ 
JEEViKA in Bihar, with technical support from UNICEF. The pilot project has been implemented in 
two blocks and eight panchayats of Kasba and Jalalgarh Blocks of the Purnea district of Bihar.  
The pilot focus upon three critical components: WHAT, WHY and for WHOM the nutrition garden is 
essential. It will try to highlight the importance of nutrition gardens and other sub-systems at a family
circle level, thereby increasing the diet diversity in the food plate of the family. It will also demonstrate 
low-cost recipes from the locally available food items.  
Poor diet diversity of <2 food groups, with a large quantity of carbohydrates being consumed, high 
prevalence of micro-nutrient deficiency, anaemia in the state and in Purnea. There is also a high level of 
undernutrition in Bihar and Purnea.  
The pilot is for those who are at the critical window of opportunity, target groups of the family circle 
comprise of pregnant women, lactating mothers having children below 2 years of age and adolescent 
girls (age group of 10-19 years), addressing diet diversity and nutritional micro-nutrient deficiency in 
the family circle.  
The pilot has been designed on the basis of randomised control trial methodology over a period of four 
years. The surveys were conducted based on the tools designed, both qualitative and quantitative. The 
project has already completed its four-year cycle and is scheduled for the end-line findings.  
The field-level experiences of the practitioners carrying out the practice of nutrition garden and the 
other sub-systems and getting benefits have been taken into consideration. At some point of time, it is 
also seen that after the self-consumption in the family circle, the produce also goes to the market and 
contributes towards raising the economic status of the family, thereby increasing the purchasing power 
and establishing food security for the family.