Presentation by Dr Robert Holmer, AVRDC The World Vegetable Centre, at the 2012 Agriculture and Rural Development Day (ARDD) in Rio de Janiero, Learning Event No. 9, Session 2: "Vegetable gardens a nexus for agriculture, nutrition and health". http://www.agricultureday.org

1. The World Vegetable Center
vegetables + development
Vegetable gardens:
A nexus for agriculture, nutrition &
health
Robert J. Holmer
Regional Director
AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center in East and Southeast Asia
Learning event 9:
From field to fork to field: nutritious food and nutrient recycling to
enhance health, wealth and resilience
1/ www.avrdc.org

2. The World Vegetable Center
Imbalanced Food Systems
vegetables + development
“Double burden
of disease”
For example in the
Philippines:
26 % of children 27 % of adults
underweight overweight or
Source: FNRI 2008
obese
2/ www.avrdc.org

3. The World Vegetable Center
vegetables + development
National vegetable availability vs. health/nutrition status:
Health status indicator: Nutrition status indicator:
Children under 5 mortality rate Children under 5 underweight
300 60
Children < 5 mortality rate (1/1000)
250 50
Children < 5 underweight (%)
200 40 Lao PDR
Cambodia
Maldives
150 30
Korea PDR
Cambodia Viet Nam
100 20 Tajikistan
Tajikistan Lao PDR
United Arab Emirates
Vietnam Korea PDR Saudi Arabia
50 10
0 0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
Vegetable availability (g/person/day) Vegetable availability (g/person/day)
Veg availability
Countries Mortality rate (1/1000) Underweight (%)
(g/ person/day)
Source: FAOSTAT (2010), WHO (2010) Cambodia 85 93 36
Lao PDR 397 75 37
Viet Nam 230 30 20
3/ www.avrdc.org

4. The World Vegetable Center
Relationship between malnutrition and infection
vegetables + development
Source: Brown (2003)
4/ www.avrdc.org

5. The World Vegetable Center
Malnutrition and the link to sanitation
vegetables + development
• Effects of malnutrition – mortality, impairment of
cognitive development and educational
performance - can cost up to 9% of a country’s
Gross Domestic Product.
• Health impacts can be prevented by reducing
environmental health risks (e.g. improved
sanitation, water and hygiene) and improved
nutrition
• Multiplier effect: for every death prevented from
an environmental health intervention, additional
deaths from other diseases are averted (Mills-
Reincke phenomenon)
Source: World Bank (2008)
5/ www.avrdc.org

6. The World Vegetable Center
Food and Nutrition Security
vegetables + development
• Nutrition security:
– “secure access to
appropriately nutritious food
coupled with a sanitary
environment, adequate health
services and care, to ensure a
healthy and active life for all
household members”
Source: DFID (2009)
6/ www.avrdc.org

7. The World Vegetable Center
Why vegetables?
vegetables + development
• High value crops
• Relatively easy to grow in different
environments
• Provide employment, especially for
women and other vulnerable groups
• Generate income
• Provide micronutrients, vitamins,
dietary fiber, phytochemicals and
protein
• Contribute to balanced diets Vegetables
3-5 servings a day
1 serving = 80g
240 – 400g a day
7/ www.avrdc.org

8. The World Vegetable Center
Why home gardens?
vegetables + development
8/ www.avrdc.org

9. The World Vegetable Center
Anything new?
vegetables + development
Berlin, 1946
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10. The World Vegetable Center
Allotment Gardens Philippines
vegetables + development
... preparing the land
10 / www.avrdc.org

11. The World Vegetable Center
Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD)
vegetables + development
Jeannette M.E. Tramhel. 2010. Using Participatory
Urban Design to "Close the Nutrient Loop" in the
Philippines. Urban Agriculture Magazine 23 - Urban
nutrient management, 30-31.
11 / www.avrdc.org

12. The World Vegetable Center
Productive Sanitation
vegetables + development
FOOD FOOD
Closing the loop
between sanitation
and agriculture
NUTRIENTS NUTRIENTS
Pathogen
destruction
12 / www.avrdc.org

13. The World Vegetable Center
Productive Sanitation
vegetables + development
Estimated annual excretion of nutrients per person (500 l of
urine and 50 kg of faeces)*:
Nitrogen Phosphorous Potassium
(kg/capita) (kg/capita) (kg/capita)
Urine 2.3 – 4.0 0.3 – 0.4 0.9 - 1.1
Faeces 0.3 – 0.6 0.1 – 0.2 0.3 - 0.4
Total 2.6 – 4.6 0.4 – 0.6 1.2 – 1.5
* flushed away with about 10,000 liters of water as medium of transportation
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14. The World Vegetable Center
Productive Sanitation
vegetables + development
Monetary equivalents (PhP/capita and year) of annual
excretion of nutrients: per person:
Amount Cost Subtotal
(kg/year) (PhP/kg) (PhP/year)
Complete (14-14-14) 6.53 35.60 232.47
Urea (46-0-0) 3.65 33.20 121.18
MoP (0-0-60) 0.96 38.00 36.48
Total 390.13
Multiplied by 90 million Filipinos:
35.1 Billion Pesos (580 Mio Euro) worth of fertilizer
equivalents go down the drain every year polluting water
bodies.
14 / www.avrdc.org

15. The World Vegetable Center
Ecological Sanitation
vegetables + development
How a “waterless” urine diversion dehydration toilet works
15 / www.avrdc.org

16. The World Vegetable Center
Productive Sanitation
vegetables + development
How a “waterless” urine diversion dehydration toilet works
16 / www.avrdc.org

17. The World Vegetable Center
Productive Sanitation
vegetables + development
Primary treatment (storage)
6 months 1 month
How a “waterless” urine diversion dehydration toilet works
17 / www.avrdc.org

18. The World Vegetable Center
Productive Sanitation
vegetables + development
Diluting urine with water Side dress application
Preplant application of composted faeces
Reuse of ecosan products
18 / www.avrdc.org

19. The World Vegetable Center
Ecological Sanitation
vegetables + development
Secondary treatment
(aerobic & vermicomposting)
How a “waterless” urine diversion dehydration toilet works
19 / www.avrdc.org

20. The World Vegetable Center
Productive Sanitation
vegetables + development
• International guidelines are
FOOD
available, but:
• Lack of R&D investment to
develop local protocols that
best suit the agronomic
requirements of the crops
grown as well as the specific
socioeconomic, cultural,
and environmental realities
NUTRIENTS
of many NUTRIENTS countries
developing
• “Nexus”: another catchphrase
or real commitment?
20 / www.avrdc.org

21. The World Vegetable Center
Potential of School Gardens
vegetables + development
• A school usually is the center
of each community
Healthy diets begin with
knowledge
• A place where programs on
good health practices can be
taught and implemented to
achieve behavioral changes at
home.
21 / www.avrdc.org

22. The World Vegetable Center
Advantages of school-based programs
vegetables + development
• Promoting good health and nutrition
before and during school age is essential
to effective growth and development
Good health and nutrition are prerequisites for
effective learning
• The pre-existing infrastructure of the
educational system offers a cost-
effective route for delivery of simple
health interventions
22 / www.avrdc.org

23. The World Vegetable Center
Philippine “Vegetable Gardens in Schools” Program
vegetables + development
• Establishment of vegetable
gardens in all 42,076 public
primary and secondary schools of
the country
Earlier successful lessons of vegetable gardening
have to be re-learned by a new generation
• To be complemented by home &
community gardens
23 / www.avrdc.org

24. The World Vegetable Center
Strategies for successful implementation
vegetables + development
• Successful school garden programs
cannot be created in isolation, but have to
be linked with education and
environmental interventions
• Communication and
synergy between the
health, agriculture
and education
sectors is
indispensable
24 / www.avrdc.org

25. The World Vegetable Center
Promotion of vegetables…
vegetables + development
…. sanitation, and healthy lifestyles
25 / www.avrdc.org

26. The World Vegetable Center
vegetables + development
AVRDC - The World Vegetable Center
Prosperity for the Poor and Health for All
26 / www.avrdc.org www.avrdc.org