“The kitchen garden course could save my children from dying,” says Zarmina*, who lives in a small village in the Central Highlands of Afghanistan. She is a beneficiary of IAM’s Community Development Programme (CDP).
Zarmina participated in CDP’s kitchen gardening course to learn about the benefits and nutritional value of different food such as vegetables, meat, grains and legumes. She also learned how to plant, irrigate, and harvest the land, and how to cook the nutritious vegetables she was starting to grow.
Growing and eating vegetables may not sound particularly exciting – but for Zarmina, and many in her community, it’s completely new. Before the kitchen gardening course, people in Zarmina’s and surrounding villages had a very limited diet. The closest they got to vegetables was chives and turnip leaf. They believed that they could not grow vegetables on their land, and that they couldn’t risk their time and money on planting things that would never grow. Drought was another big problem and, because of a shortage in food, many families have lost loved ones.
Zarmina used to believe it was impossible to grow vegetables in her village.
“My children were tiny and malnourished,” Zarmina says, tearing up. “I lost two of my children, my son 18 years ago and my daughter 12 years ago.”
In 2017, IAM’s CDP team came to Zarmina’s village. Since taking part in the kitchen gardening course, Zarmina and many others in her community have changed the way they feed their families. “Now I know which foods are high in vitamins and protein” she says. “And now, we never serve our food without vegetables on the table!”
Thanks to her new knowledge about nutrition, Zarmina is now equipped to help protect her family from different bacteria and illnesses. “By having these skills, I will make a better future for my family,” Zarmina says. She and many other women are working hard on kitchen gardening in the Central Highlands because they see the benefits it can have for their children.
Now, Zarmina proudly shows us her kitchen garden. She believes the impact of IAM’s work in her village will be long lasting.
“If this course was here 20 years ago, maybe it could have saved my family and protected my two children from dying,” Zarmina says, looking up to heaven.
People in the Central Highlands are some of the most deprived people in Afghanistan. Courses like kitchen gardening can change their lives. Between the start of 2017 and the end of 2019, 920 people have directly benefited from CDP’s kitchen gardening course. And we are excited that, over the five years that we’ve been promoting kitchen gardens, growing vegetables has become popular here.
IAM is committed to working with the people of Afghanistan, and helping them to live lives that are full of opportunity and hope. IAM’s Community Development Programme works with rural mountain communities, addressing issues such as unsafe water, poor health and sanitation, maternal health complications and risks, low literacy rates, food insecurity, and malnutrition. The programme is versatile and diverse, because the communities are, too!
We recognise the importance of communities working together and communicating their priorities and felt needs. That’s how we’re able to have long-term impact. We partner with communities to help them improve their own lives. Zarmina knows how to grow and cook vegetables now – she’s the one doing the hard work, and she and her family are the ones who will reap the rewards. That’s something to be thankful for.
*name changed
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