Vegetable plots give city dwellers a healthy living

Assegedetch with her shelf garden in Addis Ababa

1 October 2008: Plan is helping poor communities in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to grow their own vegetables – enabling them to provide nutritious food for their families and generate an income. 

Under a project called urban agriculture practice, more than 370 households in the Ethiopian capital now have their own vegetable gardens.

City challenge

As many city dwellers have little space for ground farming, the gardens are attached to their homes on a 2-metre shelf which is used as a plant or seed bed. Shelf gardening is bio-intensive and uses organic methods to encourage growth and pest control.

Roof tops are also being used to add further containers so that families can increase their production, and gardeners are encouraging their neighbours to take up the practice as well.

Selling produce

Many villagers are now growing kale, cabbage, lettuce, carrots and beetroot. As a result, there is now an increased amount of healthy food in their diets and several sell their produce to help generate an income.

Assegedetch, who has a shelf garden in Kebele, is delighted with the benefits.                                   

“I fell short of money to pay 5 birr for my monthly Idir contribution [a social fund for funerals and other occasions],” she said.

“Suddenly an idea came into my mind – why don’t I sell my kale and pay with the money from the sale?

“So I sold a kale from my backyard, paid the 5 birr and was even left with 2 birr extra. Nowadays, when I go to my relatives to visit, I take some vegetables with me so that I will not go empty handed.”

Project participants also receive training in food preparation, cooking and hygiene, as well as guidance on how to make a living from their vegetable plots.