Food and nutritional impact of one home garden project in Senegal

The opportunity arose to attempt the evaluation of the nutritional impact of a vegetable production project at household level which was initiated in 1969, in Kumbija, a village in West Senegal. This was part of a larger scheme implemented in Experimental Agricultural Units by the Institut Sénégalais de la Recherche Agronomique (ISRA).

The production and sale of vegetables was first demonstrated by extension agents to male farmers. It required drawing water from wells which is typically a female activity. Soon the vegetable production was taken over by female farmers, mostly from the Socé ethnic groups. In 1980, sixty‐four women had a plot of land dedicated to dry season vegetable production. Very few projects of this kind have been carefully evaluated for their nutritional impact. In the present study an attempt was made to assess to what extent this project had achieved, after almost twenty years, part of its stated goals.

Results from seven food consumption surveys conducted between 1970 and 1981 were compared. Mean per capita energy intake was 2200 Kcal in 1970–71 and 2400 Kcal in 1981–82. Mean protein intake per capita was close to 75 g/capita both in 1970–71 and 1980–81. There was no significant difference either in energy, protein, vitamin or mineral average intake between the earlier studies (1970–71), and the latter one (1981). Iron, retinol equivalent or ascorbic acid intakes in particular did not appear higher after several years of vegetable gardening than at the beginning of the project. The major reason seems to be that only a small fraction of the vegetables produced is consumed by the family and that the income generated by the sale of the vegetables is almost never used for food purchases. The vegetable gardening project, however, had a marked impact on women's income. It affected their social status and their awareness of urban social and food habits.

Key words:

• nutritional impact
• dietary pattern
• women
• home gardens
• agriculture
• incomes