Image Credit: Goonj
West Bengal
West Bengal: Villagers In Alidaspur District Start Kitchen Garden For Dealing With Malnutrition
|Enthused by the story of villagers, 45 local women came forward to make a kitchen garden under Goonj's 'Not Just a Piece of Cloth Initiative.' The villagers contributed the materials required for fencing and farming.
Women and children often bear the brunt of malnutrition, worldwide. In India, 53% of women of reproductive age have prevalence of anaemia, according to The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021 report. People of Chaptoli village, in Alipurduar district of West Bengal, buy their vegetables once a week from a market that's 5 km away. The difficult commute, expense, and lack of storage at home means they are forced to eat vegetables that dry up and lose their nutritional value over the week.
When we spoke to the local women about their menstrual hygiene in our 'Break the Silence Meetings' (Chuppi Todo Baithaks), we also shared how women in many other states have made kitchen gardens for their nutrition and health.
Enthused by this story, 45 local women came forward to make a kitchen garden under Goonj's 'Not Just a Piece of Cloth Initiative.' The villagers contributed the materials required for fencing and farming.After two days of hard work, the women finally readied a kitchen garden awaiting nutritious vegetables. This will not only address their malnutrition, but also help them save time and money spent earlier in the trip to the market. Together with women across India, Goonj has triggered hundreds of kitchen gardens, made and maintained by them. In our menstrual hygiene work especially, we highlight the connection between women's menstrual health and nutrition.