Community Nutrition Garden: New Initiative For Women's Self-Reliance Nutritional Security In Rural Areas In Madhya Pradesh

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Community Nutrition Garden (CNG) initiative is being adopted on a large scale to promote nutritional security and livelihood empowerment in rural areas in Madhya Pradesh.

Taking an important step in this direction, a state level workshop was organised at Vikas Bhavan Auditorium in the city recently. 

A key highlight of the workshop was the 'Stories from the Ground' session, where Sunita Kushwaha, a self-help group member from Simaria village in Rewa district, shared her inspiring success story. She detailed how, through the Panchayat-supported Community Nutrition Garden Scheme, she significantly improved nutrition levels within her family and village.

For Madhya Pradesh, which is struggling with the problem of malnutrition despite being a leader in agriculture, the Community Nutrition Garden model is emerging as a solution. Through this initiative, malnutrition in villages can be eradicated by adopting the Community Nutrition Garden Scheme led by women farmers.

 Archana, Integrator of Pradaan Sanstha said, "When women lead their land and labor, they not only improve their livelihoods but also lay the foundation for the health and prosperity of the entire village." In her special address, CEO, Madhya Pradesh Livelihood Mission, Harshika Singh shared her views on taking the Community Nutrition Garden initiative forward. She emphasized that effective water management and collective efforts are needed to develop it like a business to make this initiative sustainable and widely effective.

In this workshop, Chief Executive Officers of District Panchayat Mandla and Betul, Narsinghpur discussed the impact of Community Nutrition Garden in their districts and shared success stories by Chief Executive Officers of Janpad Panchayats of District Mandla, Betul, Raisen and Singrauli, Additional Programme Officers and Self-Help Groups Women Farmers. The initiative is targeted to reach every village with the participation of government and civil organizations. Community Nutrition Garden is not only increasing the economic self-reliance of women but also strengthening nutrition security in villages.

The workshop was organised in collaboration with Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), GIZ and Pradaan Sanstha, in which more than 450 participants participated. The workshop was attended by women self-help group (SHG) members of Gram Panchayats of various districts, Gram Rozgar Sahayak (GRS), Sarpanch, Chief Executive Officers of District and Janpad and a large number of officers / employees.

It was inaugurated by Principal Secretary, Panchayat and Rural Development Department, Deepali Rastogi, Commissioner of Madhya Pradesh State Employment Guarantee Council, Avi Prasad. During this, an e-learning module and knowledge booklet based on community nutrition garden was launched, this initiative will further strengthen nutrition security and livelihood empowerment.

 MGNREGA Commissioner Avi Prasad stated that we need to change our mindset. We must empower the women farmers for whom we have created assets to ensure their livelihood under our schemes, and ensure they receive fair compensation for their hard work.

 At the workshop, Tapan Gope, Deputy Project Director of GIZ India, reported that over 1,000 community nutrition gardens have been established since 2019, benefiting approximately 30,000 self-help group (SHG) women. These women-run gardens are crucial in enhancing local food security and promoting economic empowerment.