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Home and community gardens: Potential and opportunities to contribute to

nutrition-sensitive food systems with special reference to Southeast Asia

Article · October 2013

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Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production
and Access to Food
Home and community gardens Potential and opportunities to contribute to nutrition-
sensitive food systems with special reference to Southeast Asia
--Manuscript Draft--

Manuscript Number: FOSE-D-13-00099R1

Full Title: Home and community gardens Potential and opportunities to contribute to nutrition-
sensitive food systems with special reference to Southeast Asia

Article Type: Original refereed paper

Keywords: Home garden, community garden, sustainable development, nutrition-sensitive

agriculture, Southeast Asia

Corresponding Author: Katinka Weinberger

UNESCAP
INDONESIA

Corresponding Author Secondary

Information:

Corresponding Author's Institution: UNESCAP

Corresponding Author's Secondary

Institution:

First Author: Katinka Weinberger

First Author Secondary Information:

Order of Authors: Katinka Weinberger

Order of Authors Secondary Information:

Abstract: Southeast Asia is home both to severe over- and undernutrition. Continued pressures
on environmental sustainability and rapid urbanization are also of growing concern in
this region. This paper focuses on home and community gardens and based on
examples from various regions of the world addresses how their risks and benefits
could be assessed within a framework that considers nutrition-sensitive food systems
in the context of sustainable development. The paper then proceeds to identify entry
points for policy makers in the Southeast Asian region that wish to support home and
community gardens, and concludes by providing a set of recommendations.

Response to Reviewers:
Comments of Reviewer #1 have been taken into account where feasible. Regarding
missing areas of discussion, it is felt that the reviewer did not take into account the
section on environmental goals regarding biodiversity, social goals regarding gender,
and solutions along the value chain regarding planting material. The suggestion to
revise the paper to focus on "nutrition-smart" agriculture was not taken up as this is not
a terminology commonly used. A number of the comments related to definitions,
however, these are given later in text. In this context, it was not deemed useful to refer
to "homegardens" only, as they are clearly distinct from "community gardens".

All comments provided by Reviewer #2 were addressed. Most of these were minor and
referred to repetitions. Concerning more substantive requests for change, the title was,
as suggested, changed. The text was slightly altered to reflect that the paper is looking
at findings and examples from around the world, and reference to Cuba was also taken
out or made less prominent. As suggested, the chapter on the conceptual framework
was rewritten to change the logic of the argument. It was decided to retain table 1, as
this provides detailed information that would be lost by converting into text, but the
table was formatted and a new heading was used to show more clearly that it provided
policy options.

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abstract
Click here to download abstract: FOSE00099 Abstract TCA 12.09.13.docx

Home and community gardens in Southeast Asia: potential and opportunities for contributing to nutrition-sensitive
food systems

Abstract

Southeast Asia is home to both severe over- and under-nutrition. Continued pressures on environmental
sustainability and rapid urbanization are also of growing concern in the region. This paper focuses on home and
community gardens and is based on examples from various parts of the world. The paper addresses how their risks
and benefits may be assessed within a framework of nutrition-sensitive food systems and in the context of
sustainable development. Entry points for policy makers in the Southeast Asian region, who wish to support home
and community gardens, are identified and the paper concludes with a set of recommendations.
*Manuscript
Click here to download Manuscript: FOSE0099 Manuscript TCA Final17 09 13_KW.docx

Home and community gardens in Southeast Asia: potential and opportunities for contributing to nutrition-sensitive
food systems

By

Katinka Weinberger

Centre for Alleviation of Poverty through Sustainable Agriculture (CAPSA), United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Bogor, Indonesia1

k.weinberger@uncapsa.org

+62-251-8356-813

+62-251-8336290

1
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not imply endorsement by the United Nations.

1
Abstract

Southeast Asia is home to both severe over- and under-nutrition. Continued pressures on environmental
sustainability and rapid urbanization are also of growing concern in the region. This paper focuses on home and
community gardens and is based on examples from various parts of the world. The paper addresses how their
risks and benefits may be assessed within a framework of nutrition-sensitive food systems and in the context of
sustainable development. Entry points for policy makers in the Southeast Asian region, who wish to support
home and community gardens, are identified and the paper concludes with a set of recommendations.

Weinberger 1
1. Introduction

Asia and the Pacific remain the fastest growing region globally, and an anchor of stability in the world
economy. Southeast Asia, in particular, is a rapidly growing and export-driven sub-region with a population of
more than 600 million. Yet, this sub-region faces critical challenges. Income inequalities and urban-rural gaps
are on the rise. The 2012 ESCAP (Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) Economic and
Social survey found that income shares held by the top 10% in Indonesia and Cambodia were 29.9% and 37.3%
respectively, while the poorest 20% ranged from 7.7% in Indonesia to 4.5% in Malaysia (ESCAP 2012a). A
survey conducted in the Philippines in September 2011 showed that 52% of families considered themselves as
poor and 41% consider themselves as food poor (Social Weather Stations 2011). The growing divide goes
beyond incomes and is manifested in nutritional challenges as well: Southeast Asia’s population is both severely
over and undernourished. The proportion of children in Southeast Asia who are underweight is 19% and the
region has the third largest share of underweight children after South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa (UN 2011),
yet at the same time,12.7% of under-five-year-olds in the region are either at the risk of being overweight or
obese (Onis et al. 2010). In Laos, 39% of the population live below the national poverty line and more than 21%
of the total population is undernourished, yet 35% of men and 49% of women are overweight (Dans et al. 2011).
The “double burden of disease”, where undernutrition and obesity exist side-by-side, is observed both within
communities and even within households (Abegunde et al. 2008; Yach et al. 2004).

Environmental sustainability and rapid urbanization are also of growing concern. The Asia-Pacific region uses
three times as much resources as the rest of the world to create one unit of GDP. Resource-intensive growth
patterns have worsened the vulnerability of the region to resource price volatility while negatively affecting its
ecological sustainability (ESCAP 2012b). At the same time, Asia is home to almost half of the global urban
population and is urbanizing at a pace faster than any other region, resulting in an unmatched growth in the
number of urban dwellers and an increased number of megacities. As a consequence, the region will confront
enormous environmental challenges that are already serious, including air pollution, congestion, CO 2 emission,
deprivation in water and basic sanitation, and growing vulnerability to natural disasters (ADB 2012).

The Southeast Asian region thus stands at an important crossroads. High levels of economic growth have lifted
great numbers of people out of poverty but if the region is to sustain the high rate of growth needed to achieve
its development goals, it must shift to a different growth trajectory – one which is more resource efficient and
which puts its people at the center of development. This includes addressing current food systems and finding
solutions to make food systems more sustainable.

The paper is organized as follows: the next section describes aspects of food production and consumption in
Southeast Asia, and why a nutrition-sensitive approach towards agriculture is required. The third section
provides an overview on the various forms of gardens and how their benefits may be assessed within a
framework that considers nutrition-sensitive food systems in the context of sustainable development. The
section proceeds by reviewing different studies of home and community gardens conducted in different regions
of the world and their benefits. The fourth section identifies entry points for policy makers, in the Southeast
Asian region, who wish to support home and community gardens, and the paper concludes by providing a set of
recommendations.

Weinberger 2
2. The need for nutrition-sensitive food systems in Southeast Asia

This paper emphasizes the need for nutrition-sensitive food systems, and that they need to be addressed with
explicit recognition of more sustainable production and consumption of food. Current food systems in the
Southeast Asian region are unsustainable in the context of both supply and demand of food. On the supply side,
agriculture entails high environmental cost because of large emissions of greenhouse gases from soils, plants
and animals (ADB 2009; Stavi and Lal 2012). Other negative impacts include contamination of natural habitats,
loss of biodiversity and soil erosion (Godfray et al. 2010; Giovannucci et al. 2012; Alauddin and Quiggin 2008).
Food production and subsequent steps of the value chain that include transport, processing and refrigeration
consume large amounts of energy (Stavi and Lal 2012). On the demand side, population and income growth will
further drive growth of food demand (FAO 2009). Consumption is characterized by increasing demand for meat
and other animal products, inefficiency in terms of energy conversion rates (Dusseldorp and Sauter 2011), and
high levels of waste and loss along the supply chain (Gustavsson et al. 2011). Also, while an increasing number
of people in the Southeast Asian region have access to adequate food supply in terms of meeting energy
requirements, their diets may be grossly deficient in one or more micronutrients (Dans et al. 2011) because
consumption is based on ‘empty calories’.

There is thus urgent need to achieve more sustainable production and consumption of food. We define
sustainable production as the capacity of agriculture, over time, to contribute to overall welfare by providing
sufficient food and other goods and services in ways that are economically efficient and profitable, socially
responsible, and environmentally sound (UNDESA 2009). Similarly, we define consumption of food as
sustainable if it is safe and healthy, accessible in amounts and quality that are both appropriate and is realized
through means that are economically, socially, culturally and environmentally sustainable – minimizing waste
and pollution and not jeopardizing the needs of others (Reisch et al. 2010).

Different definitions of nutrition-sensitive approaches exist, but they commonly include elements of multi-
dimensionalism and address determinants of malnutrition, e.g. by addressing poverty, gender inequality, food
insecurity and/or lack of access to basic services such as education (Mucha 2012). In this paper we emphasize
that nutrition-sensitive approaches have scope to address all three components of malnutrition, namely
undernutrition, insufficient micronutrient and mineral intake, and over nutrition, and are therefore suitable
approaches in settings where obesity and undernutrition both present a public health problem.

It is in this regard that home and community gardens can play an important role for food systems in the
Southeast Asian region. By increasing the availability, affordability and consumption of diverse and nutrient-
dense food, such as fruits, vegetables and pulses, malnutrition may be substantially decreased, as these foods are
important sources of vitamins and micronutrients that the human body requires for good health. In the broader
discussion on sustainable development, such approaches also have a role to play for enhancing social, economic
and sustainability goals, as we attempt to show in the following sections. We argue that only if sufficient
attention is given to food-based interventions that promote dietary diversity and the consumption of nutritionally
rich foods, the goal of ending hunger, while simultaneously supporting goals of sustainable development, can be
achieved.

Weinberger 3
3. The potential of home and community gardens for sustainable development

3.1. A Framework
This paper discusses the potential of gardens for nutrition-sensitive food systems, including home and
community gardens. We link this debate to ongoing discussions at global level on sustainable development. The
Rio+20 outcome document “The Future We Want” recognizes that poverty eradication, changing unsustainable
and promoting sustainable patterns of consumption and production and protecting and managing the natural
resource base of economic and social development are the overarching objectives of and essential requirements
for sustainable development (UN 2012). In respect to nutrition, the document reaffirms the commitment to
enhance food security and access to adequate, safe and nutritious food for present and future generations in line
with the Five Rome Principles for Sustainable Global Food Security adopted in 2009 (WSFS, 2009). Broadly
speaking, the concept of sustainable development can be understood as supporting economic systems that are
compatible with the natural environment and are socially just.

Sustainable development is thus based on the three mutually reinforcing pillars of economy, environment and
society. Each of these three pillars is supported through a number of determinants, such as sufficient, safe and
nutritious food and health that contribute to outcomes at the societal level, jobs and income that have a bearing
on the economy, and land and water that support the environment we live in. In the framework of this paper,
nutrition-sensitive food systems are considered to be one building block of sustainable development (Figure 1).

Common to garden production, whether under private or community management, is that production is small-
scale, non-commercial and mostly for own consumption. Home gardens are privately managed by families and
they have been considered a viable development approach, targeting nutrition for several decades, as evidenced
by the large set of literature available on them (Marek et al. 1990; Schipani et al. 2002; Bloem et al. 1996;
Marsh 1997; Cameron et al. 2012; Cabalda et al. 2011; Heim et al. 2011; Heim et al. 2009). Community gardens
refer to open spaces that are managed and operated by members of a local community to cultivate food (Guitart
et al. 2012). Community gardens have found attention in the literature in particular in respect to allotment
gardens. Allotment gardens refer to plots of land made available for individual and non-commercial gardening,
which are formed by subdividing a piece of land into land parcels that are assigned to individuals or families
(Drescher et al. 2006). Other forms of community gardens include those that are cultivated by a community,
such as a school, prison, hospital or neighborhood. Urban green commons are a subset of community gardens,
which include rooftop gardens and edible landscapes (Colding and Barthel 2013; Guitart et al. 2012).

The question then arises as to how well gardens, whether privately or community managed, contribute to the
goals of nutrition-sensitive food systems that promote agriculture and food security, access to and consumption
of nutritious foods, improved social protection and a healthier environment. The following section will discuss
how well home and community gardens can address each of these requirements.

Weinberger 4
Fig. 1 Three pillars of sustainable development in the context of nutrition-sensitive food systems

3.2. Contribution to Social Goals

As outlined above, food security remains a major concern in a number of countries of Southeast Asia, in
particular Indonesia, Laos PDR, Timor-Leste, Myanmar and the Philippines. In this context, the benefits of
home and community gardens have been reported to be in providing enhanced food supply and increased
diversity of food, especially for the poor (Bushamuka et al. 2005; Talukder et al. 2010; Olney et al. 2009; Trinh
et al. 2003; Cabalda et al. 2011) and those in urban environments. There is evidence that participation in home
garden activities contributes to an improved nutrition status through a measurable impact on reduced night
blindness among children due to increased vitamin A intake (Talukder et al. 2010). However, while there is
agreement that food-based agricultural interventions, such as home and community gardens, can effectively
increase the production and consumption of food, the evidence of the effect of these interventions on health
outcomes for children and women remains limited. Masset et al. (2012), based on results of a meta-study,
however, conclude that the inability to measure impact on health outcomes may be due to the lack of statistical
power of the methods applied rather than to the lack of effectiveness of the interventions. Similarly, another
recent systematic review by Girard et al. (2012) highlights the lack of available evidence that agricultural
programs, which increase household food production, improve nutrition and health outcomes for women and
young children. Nevertheless, both studies conclude that household food production strategies, which include
foods rich in protein, energy, and micronutrients, such as vegetables, pulses, animal source foods and certain
root crops, hold promise for improving the nutrition of women and children.

As outlined earlier, the Southeast Asian region faces a health problem based on both under and over-nutrition of
large parts of the population. Over-nutrition has been attributed to a shift in consumption patterns of Southeast
Asians, also labeled the “nutrition transition” (Pingali 2007; Li et al. 2012; Sage 2012), and a change in lifestyle
that results in inadequate physical activity. Both together are considered to contribute to high social cost as
Southeast Asia faces an epidemic of chronic non-communicable diseases, now responsible for 60% of deaths in
the region (Dans et al. 2011). Contrary to common perception that obesity is a problem of the wealthy,
disadvantaged populations are actually the hardest hit, with death rates inversely proportional to a country's
gross national income (Dans et al. 2011).

In this context, school gardens have received some attention through the likely impact they have on
consumption patterns of children and teens (Holmer et al. 2012). It is generally thought that a healthy diet
during childhood and adolescence promotes health, growth and cognitive development of the child and
adolescent, and may contribute to the prevention of chronic disease in later life (Cauwenberghe et al. 2010).
Evidence suggests that eating habits that are adopted early in life continue into adulthood, while the transition

Weinberger 5
from childhood into adolescence is often associated with unhealthful dietary changes (Birch and Fisher 1998;
Cauwenberghe et al. 2010). It is therefore considered important to establish healthy eating behaviors early in
life. School-based approaches for health and nutrition programs can potentially result in positive outcomes for
the health and nutrition status of children because promoting good health and nutrition before and during school
age is essential for effective growth and development (Bundy et al. 2006). At the same time, the existing
infrastructure of the educational system can offer a cost-effective route for delivery of simple health
interventions and health promotion. Better nutrition of school children can then lead to enhanced productivity
because good health and nutrition are prerequisites for effective learning: provision of an environment
conducive to learning in the form of quality schools, textbooks, and teachers can only result in effective
education if the child is present, ready, and able to learn (Holmer et al. 2012; Behrman 1996).

Enhanced empowerment of people involved in gardening has been another benefit described in the literature.
Bushamuka et al. (2005) and Girard et al.(2012) reported that those participating in gardening schemes ,
especially women, have been empowered through their increases in skills and larger contributions to household
income, gained through products sold. Another social benefit of home and community gardens has often been
described as that of providing social cohesion and a sense of belonging (Lewis 1992; Colding and Barthel 2013;
Schmelzkopf 1996). This has been described in particular in the context of immigrant communities in the
Northern countries, but also for communities in economic crisis (Novo and Murphy 2006).

3.3. Contribution to environmental goals

Asia is home to almost half of the global urban population, and is urbanizing at a pace faster than any other
region. It is also home to more than half of the world's megacities, and eleven of the world's 20 most polluted
cities (ADB 2012).Gardens have an interesting relationship to urbanization because urbanization and the spread
of industrial land limits the space available for food production, yet as people move from rural to urban
environments the amount of food consumed in cities increases. Based on average consumption figures, one can
assume that a total of 1.5 billion urban inhabitants in Asia consume 2.5 million MT of food every day.

In this fight for space, it is important to consider the benefits of gardens for environmental sustainability. One
benefit is the production of food close to consumption areas and the reduced need for transportation and
refrigeration (Novo and Murphy 2006). Gardens can also improve environmental impact, as they can insulate
houses against extreme temperatures and thus reduce domestic energy use, improve localized air cooling and
mitigate flooding (Cameron et al. 2012; Smit et al. 1996). Gardens also contribute to enhanced biodiversity as
shown by Trinh et al. (2003). Their study on home gardens, in four different ecosystems in Viet Nam, concluded
that the richness and stability of home gardens make them important sites for in situ conservation within
ecozones. Similarly, Colding and Barthel (2013) address how biodiversity of urban gardens can contribute to
resilience of cities. Gardens have also been reported to provide a haven for wildlife (Cameron et al. 2012).
However, if not well managed, the food production in gardens in urban areas may also result in health and
sanitation issues including through the misuse of fertilizers and pesticides.

3.4. Contribution to economic goals

Examples from around the world are available which show that home production in gardens in rural and urban
settings is an important source of food and income, in particular in situations of economic distress. A well
researched facet of home and community gardens has been their contribution to household income through food
sales. For instance, Olney et al. (2009) report on a home garden project implemented by an international NGO in
Cambodia where intervention households were more likely to earn income from homestead food production
than control households. The generation of additional income for household members through the sale of
surplus food products from home gardens and/or animal husbandry has also been documented from Bangladesh
(Bushamuka et al. 2005) where it is reportedly used to purchase other micronutrient-rich food items or pay for
household expenses such as health care and children’s education (Talukder et al. 2010). Perhaps the best-known
government initiative to support urban gardening as a response to an economic crisis is the Cuban self-supply
(autoconsumo) plan, initiated as a result from the disintegration of the socialist bloc and the US embargo on
Cuba. Between 1991 and 1995, when Cuba lost access to fossil fuels, food imports and the agricultural inputs it
depended on, food availability declined by around 60%. As a result of autoconsumo, not only has the food

Weinberger 6
supply increased dramatically but the development of urban agriculture has also created new employment
opportunities, 6-7% of all new jobs being in urban agriculture. Moreover, the household income of many people
working in urban agriculture is higher than the national average salary (Novo and Murphy 2006). Colding and
Barthel (2013) describe how American cities, taking Detroit as an example, have used the development of
community gardens as a way of counterbalancing the effects of economic recession. This has increased the
number and variety of jobs available to local people and thus promoted regional economic development through
the consequent increase of the local tax base. Urban agriculture can provide a substantive contribution to
overall household income and serves to diversify incomes. The importance of having access to gardens in times
of economic transition, whether urban or rural, is also emphasized in the paper of tho Seeth et al. (1998) who
describe the production in homegardens as a response strategy of households to economic stress in the transition
economy of Russia. tho Seeth and his co-authors point out that a neglected aspect of gardening is the high
opportunity cost to the economy caused by the absorption of time of highly educated people to support their
food needs.

Weinberger 7
4. Entry Points to Support Home and Community Gardens

The above discussion has shown that home and community gardens can provide a number of entry points where
contributions could be made to nutrition-sensitive food systems and ultimately, sustainable development. The
following provides an overview on entry points that support the implementation of home and community
gardens. These include enabling policies, collaboration mechanisms, technological innovations along the value
chain and external drivers.

4.1. Enabling policies

Institutional issues, particularly those related to land access, continue to be a major constraint to broader
implementation of home and community gardens, despite new development in container and rooftop gardening.
Such constraints can be overcome by developing protective laws and regulations for open spaces, by addressing
issues of tenure and land rights, and also by encouraging formation and capacity building of local organizations
and supporting and strengthening municipal councils. For instance, in Germany the allotment movement greatly
expanded in numbers after the first act for allotment gardens was implemented in 1919. This law advised the
establishment of a local authority for community gardens and recommended working in close cooperation with
existing municipal authorities dealing with real estate and residential housing (Groening 1996). More examples
of enabling policies in the context of urban agriculture are provided by Gerster-Bentaya (2013) who considers
actions that integrate urban food security into the larger debate on climate change mitigation and adaptation. The
policy interventions as described above also require an enabling environment to enhance implementation of
existing policies. This includes, in more general terms, identifying outdated, restrictive norms and regulations,
and identifying inconsistencies in policies, such as across line agencies involved in economic and social
policies, public health and environmental management, or across local and national levels. It also includes
assessing the effectiveness of existing policies, and thus viable monitoring and evaluation mechanisms are
required.

4.2. Collaboration mechanisms

Home and community gardening relates to a variety of issues, such as poverty, land use planning, local
biodiversity, waste management, food security, public health, and community development. Many stakeholders
can be identified who play roles and who (should) have says in the planning and development of gardens and
related activities, such as the provision of inputs, technologies, production, and processing and marketing.
Successful examples of gardens therefore involve planning and policy making of these different stakeholders at
various levels (Dubbeling and Merzthal 2006). Coordination affects the sustainability of gardens as it relates
back to the sense of ownership and belonging of participants to the program, and the role of various partners.
Approaches towards enhanced coordination can include the facilitation of multi-stakeholder processes, for
instance, in the development of industrial areas or open spaces. But better coordination also relates to
coordination across ministries, for instance between Agriculture and Health, such as for school garden programs
that also address deworming, Vitamin A supplementation, and fortification of selected food items. Similarly, in
particular for school gardens, collaboration and coordination across Ministries of Education and Agriculture can
support the implementation of programs. For certain types of community gardens, for example edible
landscapes, coordination between Ministries of Agriculture and Ministries of Public Works may be required.

4.3. Developments along the Value Chain

Access to inputs and technologies that are suitable for home and community gardens can be a constraint for
gardeners, especially for the less developed countries in the Southeast Asian region. Expanded research and
development for enhanced access to technologies for small-scale farming includes seeds and planting material,
plant protection, water management in urban gardens and waste management, such as the development of
decentralized composting services. An example of how such critical inputs can be provided is the Indonesian
Sustainable Food Reserve Garden (Kawasan Rumah Pangan lestari KRPL), supported by the Ministry of
Agriculture. Through this program, village nurseries are established in each participating region of Indonesia.
Village nurseries take account of local consumption preferences and facilitate access of households to seeds
(Indonesia 2012).

Weinberger 8
Extension services need to be sensitized to provide services to cater to the needs of gardeners in home and
community gardens. Too often, they are targeted towards providing support for staple crop production only.

Another entry point along the value chain for the support of home and community gardens is access to markets
that allows producers to sell small quantities of produce easily. Examples of such initiatives that support
alternative marketing and retail channels, in particular for low external input produce, include support to small-
scale producers, especially those of perishable products, by facilitating market access through cooperative
structures. While impact on nutrition outcomes of producers in the examples cited is not measured, anecdotal
evidence suggests that these marketing activities contribute to income security of producers. In the United States
in particular, research has been undertaken on the benefits of farmers’ markets for nutrition and health of
consumers and findings suggests that these markets have the potential to be an avenue for contributing to dietary
diversity of consumers, particularly disadvantaged groups (Evans et al. 2012; Holben 2010; Kropf et al. 2007).
However, a review of studies assessing the effect of farmers’ markets on nutrition outcomes of consumers found
that, similar to the lack of evidence cited earlier in this paper on the nutrition effects of gardens, there were few
well-designed research studies (McCormack et al. 2010).

4.4. Intergovernmental drivers

The implementation of successful approaches at scale that address food security requires political will as has
been shown in examples across the world. Opportunity to formulate such will in the Southeast Asian region is
evidenced by the 2005 Asian ministerial declaration on environmentally sustainable economic growth. This
expressed strong support for approaches that balanced the three pillars of sustainable development for reduction
of poverty (ESCAP 2005) and provided an impetus to support development of home and community gardens
through inclusion in national development roadmaps.

More specifically, in the ASEAN region, while neither nutrition-sensitive agriculture nor home and community
gardens were specifically mentioned, indirect references for support can be found in the ASEAN Socio-Cultural
Community Blueprint that formulates sustainable development strategies and related actions for the region
(ASEAN 2009). The ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint is implemented through engagement with
the private sector, civil society organizations and other stakeholders and thus provides opportunities for
engagement with various levels of stakeholders. The ASEAN has thus agreed on a number of strategic
objectives that support the implementation of policies for enhanced gardening activities. Table 1 provides an
overview of selected action points, which can be linked to approaches for promoting home and community
gardens in the ASEAN region through specific policies.

Weinberger 9
Table 1. Overview of nutrition-related action points in the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint
Strategic Objective Actions cited (examples)
Ensure adequate access to
food at all times for all
ASEAN peoples and
ensure food safety in
ASEAN Member States
Ensure access to adequate
and affordable healthcare,
medical services and
medicine, and promote
healthy lifestyles for the
peoples of ASEAN
Promote sustainable
development through
environmental education
and public participation
Ensure cities/urban areas
in ASEAN are
environmentally
sustainable, while meeting
the social and economic
needs of the people
Weinberger
Specific policy interventions that
support home and community
gardening
 Ensure that food is available at
all times for all ASEAN
citizens
 Encourage the application of
environmentally sound
technologies in farming and
food processing
 Integrate these actions into a
comprehensive plan of action
with the ultimate goal of
improving health outcomes
 Promote and undertake
information and educational
drive and public health
policies’ advocacy activities to
encourage healthy lifestyles
and behaviour changes that are
accessible, affordable and
sustainable
 Promote the concept and
practice throughout ASEAN of
sustainable schools (for
example, eco-schools/ green
schools)
 Share experiences, expertise
and technology in areas such
as urban planning, including
transportation, green building,
water management, urban
greenery, conservation, urban
sanitation and waste
management, (3Rs - Reduce,
Reuse and Recycle). Also
control of pollution of air,
water and land and by noise
 Incorporate action points that
explicitly support home and
community gardens into
national development plans
 Support research and
extension of appropriate
technologies for home and
community gardening
 Focus on safety and pollution
concerns of home and
community gardening in
research and extension
 Include campaigning for home
and community gardens into
national advocacy actions for
healthier consumption
 Promote school gardening
 Support formation and
capacity building of local
organizations
 Support and strengthen
municipal councils
 Create municipal offices that
have a mandate to support
gardening in urban areas
 Develop protective laws and
regulations for open spaces
 Integrate urban agriculture into
comprehensive water
management plans
10
 through such programmes as
twinning cities
 Work towards initiatives such
as “Low Carbon Society”,
“Compact Cities”, “Eco-
Cities” and “Environmentally
Sustainable Transport”
Source: ASEAN (2009)

5. Discussion

In a decade where all segments of society are called upon to get involved in promoting environments that are
conducive to healthy living, gardens should be considered as one approach that governments have available to
them in their support of more nutrition-sensitive food systems. This paper has reviewed the potential of home
and community gardens to contribute to nutrition-sensitive food systems and sustainable development. The
Southeast Asia region is characterized by high levels of economic growth but also by unsustainable production
and consumption patterns. Consequently current food systems must be addressed and made more sustainable.
Gardens have a role to play as they have been found to contribute to more diversified diets and to higher
consumption of nutritionally-rich food. This could be particularly important in causing healthier consumption
behavior of children and young adults. However, whether or not food production in gardens contributes to better
nutritional outcomes, in particular in children and women, remains an issue of debate in the absence of
statistically sound methods for its determination. Gardens, if properly managed, may contribute to a more
sustainable environment, particularly in urban areas such as the Southeast Asian region, which is urbanizing
faster than any other area. Finally, across the world there are examples of gardens contributing to economic
stability and creating job and income opportunities, particularly in times of crisis and recession (see section 3.4).

Only a few examples of large scale implementation of home and community gardens exist in Southeast Asia,
such as the Indonesian Sustainable Food Reserve Garden and yet sufficient experience of the success of home
and community gardens is available and documented. This overview has shown that the existing policy
framework in Southeast Asia is conducive to supporting gardens with the aim of providing more nutritious food,
healthier urban environments, and promotion and advocacy of healthier lifestyles, but this approach is not fully
exploited. The following provides a summary of recommendations to strengthen support of home and
community gardens for better nutrition and health in Southeast Asia’s population.

i. Assessment of the literature has shown that home and community gardens are one, but not the only
means, of achieving more sustainable development with a nutrition and health focus.
ii. Greater collaboration in research among nutritionists, agronomists, economists and social scientists on
the benefits of gardening is required. This will enable a better understanding of the complex and multi-
faceted interactions of gardening and their potential for achieving sustainable development goals.
Sound and rigorous evaluation methods need to be developed, based on clear indicator frameworks,
that allow the quantitative and qualitative measurement of the effects of gardening on human health
and nutrition, as well as environmental sustainability and economic outcomes. Monitoring and
evaluation should be built into gardening programs from the outset, and findings should be clearly
communicated to policy makers, consumers and other stakeholders in order to support advocacy.
iii. Collaboration across line ministries and authorities is a crucial element of success, as with all multi-
dimensional, nutrition-sensitive projects and activities. However, the coordination of agricultural line
agencies with those of other sectors, such as health and education, can create difficult discussions and

Weinberger 11
 decisions as it involves political tradeoffs in budgetary processes. Mechanisms and space thus need to
be created that allow for such discussions to take place so that they may result in joint planning,
programming and evaluation.
iv. Concrete entry points that policy makers should consider for the support of gardens include the
development of protective laws and regulations for open spaces, as well as the encouragement of
formation and capacity building of local organizations and the support and strengthening of municipal
councils.
v. Input provision and capacity building targeted at food producers should take into account that the needs
of gardeners may differ from those of other small-scale food producers, in particular in urban settings.
Technological developments related to water and waste management and gardening in small spaces can
facilitate the successful uptake of gardening programs but require targeted interventions by dedicated
institutions.

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colour figure
Click here to download colour figure: Figure 1_Framework for nutrition-sensitive agriculture .docx
*Biography and photo

Dr. Katinka Margit Weinberger is a socio-economist. Her professional interests include sustainable and
diversified agriculture, value chains for poor farmers and the related aspects of postharvest activities
and food safety, food consumption, impact assessment, and Monitoring and Evaluation. She has fifteen
years’ experience in agricultural research for development, which has included planning, supervision
and monitoring of research strategies and changing management. Empirical field research has been
accomplished in collaboration with national and international partners, with diverse professional and
cultural backgrounds, and has included work experience in South Asia, South East Asia, East Asia, the
Pacific, Eastern and Central Africa and Latin America.

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