Abstract Plant species grown in urban home gardens improve environmental quality, bring aesthetic benefits, can be used for the production of food and medicinal plants, among other purposes. This work aims to carry out an ethnobotanical survey in urban home gardens in the Vingt Rosado neighborhood in Mossoró-RN. The methodological procedures consist of an application of a semi-structured questionnaire and identification of plant species present in the gardens of residential units. Plants were found in all the sampled residences, and 18 species with different purposes were cataloged. The studied urban home gardens have great potential for botanical cultivation, and the expansion of this possibility could bring many benefits regarding food and environmental security and even expand the possibilities for generation of family income.
Gardening has long been conceptualized as a practice that blurs nature-human binaries and connects humans to nature in rapidly urbanising worlds. Based on six weeks of fieldwork on the Cape Flats, this article explores human interpretations of beyond-human connections and experiences that are engendered in their home vegetable gardens. It weaves together ethnographic data and theoretical frameworks like posthumanism, multispecies ethnography and actor-network theory to analyse the inner workings of these relationships. I collaborated with six interlocutors and their gardens to reveal how companionships with plants and their produce complicate, contest or conform to nature-human binaries. In doing so, this paper investigates how through gardening, interlocutors come to recognize otherwise 'invisible' elements in the natural world as valued companions that not only co-produce healthy vegetables, but also co-create identities, emotions, practices, and justices. However, this paper also traces the exchanges that take place within the garden, contending that only the gardening agents that are perceived capable of maintaining beneficial reciprocities come to be coded as companions, whilst others that do not become pests or nuisances. Through these insights, it aims to add nuances to the claims that gardening dissolves human-nature dichotomies.
Home gardens are often conceived as a panacea to contribute to the problem of food insecurity in poor rural and urban households. However, systematic reviews indicate weak evidence of significant impacts on families. This way, there has been an intense discussion about their effectiveness. This research aims to generate knowledge about the relevance of assuming food production in home gardens as an alternative to the home consumption. Two questions drive this paper: what number of home gardens, supported by three different government programs, persists? Moreover, what factors explain their permanence? Our sample constituted 261 beneficiaries, and the collection of data was through face-to-face field surveys and in situ visits to the vegetable garden granted. We show that less than 7.5% of gardens remain in right conditions after two years of establishment. The pleasure and need to produce, family involvement, urban/rural location, and the technology provided are determining factors for permanence. The results support the argument that the high rate of home gardens that fail is related to the primacy of politics in considering the problem of food security as a &ldquo ; lack of assets&rdquo ; to produce. Thus, this suggests that there is a weak link between the problem, policies, and the politics.
AbstractObjectiveThe study addresses two research inquiries: evaluating the effectiveness of the Home Garden Network (HGN) program in attaining its four intended outcomes (learning, growing, sharing, and healing) as well as exploring the social capital mechanisms in facilitating the four outcomes.BackgroundDrawing from Coleman's social capital theory, the HGN program was developed in response to common issues many families experience: the lack of family leisure time, dietary‐related health issues, and food insecurity.MethodsIndividual interviews were conducted with eight program participants.ResultsThe findings revealed that the program produced the four intended outcomes in which the three forms of social capital (i.e., information channels, reciprocity, and social norms) served as mechanisms that explained the outcomes. Through information channels, participants learned from their network members as well as the program facilitators. Reciprocity is fostered through a system where families take turns assisting each other in growing their gardens, establishing a sense of mutual obligation. Social norms encourage the sharing of produce and plants, reinforcing a collective culture of generosity. Reciprocal relationships further strengthened their interpersonal bonding experiences, providing participants with a sense of group identity and belonging, and hence healing. In addition, families utilize their gardens as a communication starter, establishing social norms of routines and responsibilities that promote family cohesion.ConclusionThe study validates the HGN program in achieving its learning, growing, sharing, and healing objectives.ImplicationsThe program offers implementation opportunities for human services organizations and land‐grant universities, aligning with social policies promoting food security and healthy lifestyles.
"Agricultural biodiversity is an environmental resource. Much of the agricultural biodiversity remaining in situ today is found on the semi-subsistence farms of poorer countries and the small-scale farms or home gardens of more industrialized nations. The traditional small farms of Hungary are labelled "home gardens" as a reflection of their institutional identity during the collectivisation period. Homesteads managed with family labor, they continue to serve essential food security and diet quality functions during economic transition. Home gardens contribute to the preservation of rural settlements and cultural heritage, and they contain relatively high levels of several components of agricultural biodiversity. The role of home gardens in the agri-environmental program that is now being formulated by Hungary and the European Union has not been elucidated, though the stated goal of these policies is to support multifunctional agriculture. This study estimates the private value that Hungarian farmers assign to home gardens and their biodiversity attributes, and indicates how such information might be used in designing least-cost mechanisms to support their maintenance as part of the national agri-environmental program." -- Authors' Abstract ; IFPRI3; Theme 10; Subtheme 10.1; GRP1; ISI; Pro-poor science and technology policies; DCA ; EPTD ; PR
"Agricultural biodiversity is an environmental resource. Much of the agricultural biodiversity remaining in situ today is found on the semi-subsistence farms of poorer countries and the small-scale farms or home gardens of more industrialized nations. The traditional small farms of Hungary are labelled "home gardens" as a reflection of their institutional identity during the collectivisation period. Homesteads managed with family labor, they continue to serve essential food security and diet quality functions during economic transition. Home gardens contribute to the preservation of rural settlements and cultural heritage, and they contain relatively high levels of several components of agricultural biodiversity. The role of home gardens in the agri-environmental program that is now being formulated by Hungary and the European Union has not been elucidated, though the stated goal of these policies is to support multifunctional agriculture. This study estimates the private value that Hungarian farmers assign to home gardens and their biodiversity attributes, and indicates how such information might be used in designing least-cost mechanisms to support their maintenance as part of the national agri-environmental program." -- Authors' Abstract ; Non-PR ; IFPRI1 ; EPTD
