Through a partnership with Development in Gardening (DIG), a US-based NGO that works to improve nutrition and heath through sustainable agriculture, the Lwala Community Alliance has implemented a program to bring improved farming knowledge and practice to the people of North Kamagambo. This project includes the development of a vegetable garden on the hospital property to act as a demonstration plot for the community and to supply vegetables to the hospital and community.
DIG focuses on providing the types of vegetables needed for people living with HIV because the current treatments for the disease are most effective when taken with a highly nutritious diet. This means in the inclusions of vegetables such as amaranthas, black nightshed, beet root and fruits like passion fruits that people in the area did not know could assist those living with HIV in their journey to remain healthy.
In addition, the garden has three areas for community groups to have hands on training in organic agriculture techniques that ensure that water sources, soils, and produce stay free of chemicals and are often cheaper for farmers as they use locally available materials. The three groups currently training are the Umama Salama group, which work as community health workers to encourage safe motherhood and birthing practices; the HIV support group; and a youth group made up of young men and women, many of whom do have enough money to stay in school but can use the skills gained through this program to earn their way back to school.
While some of the produce is consumed by the hospital patients and community members, much is sold for the sustainability of the project and for income generation for the individual groups. By ensuring that members are provided information on the nutritional value of different produce and how to prepare them in the most nutritious manner, we can be certain that community members are gaining skills that will help them to stay healthy, earn more money for their families, and protect the earth in order to provide long into the future.
Community members work in the demonstration garden
