Sack garden technology has the potential to boost household food and nutrition security among women and the youth

In Ghana, agricultural lands are exposed to several threats such as increasing urbanization and climate change which led to yield reductions through soil degradation, lower fertility, etc. This is harmful to the food security status and poverty level among rural households whose livelihoods are solely dependent on agriculture. Women are particularly vulnerable as they have little access to land and other production resources and this is despite their crucial role in providing good nutrition and diet diversification in households.

As a follow-up on the training on sack gardening, a newly introduced Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) technology in Berekum and Akomadan (Bono and Ashanti Regions of Ghana) by the World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg: https://avrdc.org/) under the One CGIAR initiative entitled ‘Transforming Agrifood Systems in West and Central Africa (TAFS-WCA), one field day each at Berekum and Akumadan was organised among farmers’ after the technology set up. On November 22, 2022, 46 farmers (thirty-nine females and seven males) from Berekum and 20 farmers (fifteen females and five males) from Akumadan participated in the field day.

Vegetables such as lettuce and cucumber in the sacks were ready for harvesting a few weeks after the technology was set up. It was all excitement when farmers realized that lettuce was ready for harvest at the time of the field day. Some illustrative comments are:

‘’I have waited patiently to harvest and consume lettuce from the sack garden, and thank God the time has finally come,’’ said one farmer.

‘’I will prepare peanut butter soup and stew sauce (Abomu) with my share of the lettuce to feed my family this evening’’ reiterated another woman farmer, Akosua, from Akumadan.

“With this technology, we will now have access to vegetables all year round, and it will reduce our stress in going to the farm to get vegetables”, were mentioned by farmers.

The excitement from farmers, particularly the women, was high and was evident in their mention that technology is an excellent source of empowerment for them. It also offers the opportunity to provide healthy diets for their families. Comments such as the technology being less laborious, manageable and requiring less irrigation were also stated by the women.

Approximately a head of lettuce weighing 63g with a cost of Gh₵ 2.00 (USD 0.14) and with about thirty heads (30) harvested from a sack yielding 1900grams, almost an amount of Gh₵60.00 (USD 4.2) can be saved for households. This can benefit farmers, assumingly providing an additional source of income to smallholder farmers. Nutritionally, lettuce also contains approximately 90 calories per 600 grams. A single harvest from sack gardening can contribute to about 285g, which, when consumed with other calorie sources, will boost the daily calorie levels of smallholder farmers and improve upon nutrition security.