By Mou Rani Sarker, Bushra Humaira, Sharif Ahmed, and Humnath Bhandari
In Bangladesh, food insecurity and malnutrition remain widespread, affecting more than 60 million people across the country. Despite national efforts to improve food access, about 35% of the population still doesn’t get enough to eat.
Women and children carry the greatest burden. Among women aged 15-49, nearly half are malnourished, some underweight, and others obese, which highlights the complex nature of nutritional challenges. Meanwhile, two out of three children under five suffer from food poverty, often surviving on just one or two food groups each day.
These numbers show us a daily struggle for many families, particularly in climate-vulnerable regions where food production is fragile and less productive, markets are unreliable, and household resources are stretched thin. Food production systems strongly affect food security, nutrition, and public health.
Climate and gender inequality shape nutrition risks
The coastal and Barind regions of Bangladesh are among the most climate-affected zones in the country. In the coastal belt, communities face salinity intrusion, tidal flooding, cyclones, and long-term waterlogging. These recurring hazards damage crops, reduce soil health, and restrict access to safe water. In the Barind tract, farmers face prolonged dry spells, erratic rainfall, and declining groundwater which are conditions that make year-round agriculture increasingly difficult.
These climate risks disproportionately affect women. Limited access to land, water, finance, and extension services means women, who are typically responsible for feeding their families, have fewer options during food shortages. Their role as primary caregivers often goes unrecognized in agriculture planning, even though they are the first line when it comes to family nutrition.
Integrated homestead garden can help build women farmers’ climate and livelihood resilience.
Homestead gardening: A simple but powerful solution
Homestead gardening (HG) offers a practical, low-cost, and gender-responsive way to improve nutrition and build resilience, especially in climate-stressed regions. With support from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) under the CGIAR Program on Scaling for Impact, homestead gardening is being introduced and scaled in parts of Patuakhali, Rangpur, and Nilphamari, where households face both climate and nutrition challenges.
To date, the initiative has reached about 10,000 women farmers, providing them with seeds, training on composting, crop management, water management, and guidance on growing diverse crops close to home. It simply focuses on enabling women to grow vegetables, fruits, and herbs in small plots around their homes so they can supplement their families’ diets year-round, even during lean seasons or climate shocks.
One of the participants from the coastal region said, “Our land is saline, and people said nothing grows here. But after the training, I learned how to make raised beds and use compost. Now I grow tomatoes, amaranth, and gourds, even in the dry season. It gave me hope that our land still has value, and I can do something with it despite the climate.”
What the data tells us
To better understand how homestead gardening is working on the ground, a mixed-methods study was conducted in three districts, covering around 600 households in 3 districts of Bangladesh namely Rangpur, Nilphamari, and Patuakhali, 400 of which adopted HG practices and 200 who did not. The results show that households with homestead gardens reported slightly higher levels of food security, with fewer households experiencing severe food shortages. More importantly, adopter households showed better dietary diversity among smallholder farmers including women and children, which is a key indicator of improved nutrition.
Among women: 36.5% of adopters had higher dietary diversity, compared to 33.5% of non-adopters. Women with homestead gardens ate more vegetables, fruits, eggs, legumes, and dairy from their own gardens. They relied less on market purchases. Only 3.8% of adopters had low dietary diversity, versus 8% of non-adopters.
Among children: About 25.7% of children in HG households had high dietary diversity, compared to just 17.6% in non-adopter households. Children in HG households consumed more plant-based foods, legumes, and vitamin A-rich fruits and vegetables.
These improvements are not just about numbers. They are about real, lived change. One woman from the coastal region shared, “People used to say nothing grows in this soil. But after learning how to make raised beds and compost, I started growing amaranth, tomatoes, and gourds—even in the dry season. I don’t need to wait for my husband to bring food anymore. The garden feeds us daily.”
In many cases, women reported that their gardens also helped them save money on groceries and, in some cases, earn small amounts of income by selling surplus produce. For some, this income allowed them to buy school supplies for their children or set aside emergency funds—small but meaningful steps toward financial independence.
What this means for women and families
Homestead gardening is not just about food and nutrition security. It is also about empowerment. Women who garden have more say in what their families eat, how household food is used, and how income is spent. Many feel a renewed sense of purpose and pride, especially when they see their children eating better and falling sick less often.
“There were days when we had to skip vegetables. Since I started my garden, we always have something to cook. It saves money, and I feel proud that I can feed my family from my own yard,” shared one mother from the Barind region.
These personal stories highlight the broader impact HG can have on more diverse diets, reduced market dependence, better child nutrition, and increased confidence among women.
Policy support exists, but challenges remain
The Government of Bangladesh has shown commitment to homestead food production through initiatives like “Amar Bari Amar Khamar (My Home, My Farm)” and the National Adaptation Plan 2023–2050, which supports family nutrition gardens as a climate-smart agricultural strategy.
However, several gaps remain:
- Homestead gardening is often seen as a peripheral activity, not integrated into core agricultural or nutrition programs.
- Smallholder farmers lack knowledge about optimal utilization of their homestead areas.
- Women’s contributions are often undervalued, and extension services rarely tailor their support to meet the needs of female farmers.
- Access to land, water, and inputs remains a barrier, especially in climate-vulnerable areas.
- There is no robust monitoring system in place to track the contribution of homestead gardening to national nutrition and resilience targets.
The way forward
To fully realize the potential of homestead gardening, we need to:
- Integrate HG into national food systems and land-use policy as a strategy for climate adaptation and nutrition improvement.
- Strengthen women-centered extension services on integrated homestead farming, especially in salinity-affected and drought-prone areas.
- Ensure land and water access for women to sustain and expand gardens.
- Develop better monitoring tools to measure impact and inform adaptive programming.
- Foster coordination across ministries of Agriculture, Health, Women and Children Affairs, and local government.
A sustainable, scalable approach to food and nutrition
Homestead gardening is a tested, practical approach to solving some of the most pressing challenges in Bangladesh today. When scaled thoughtfully, it can help communities create a buffer against climate shocks, close nutrition gaps, and promote gender equity.
At its core, homestead gardening puts the tools of resilience in the hands of women, who have long held the quiet responsibility of feeding their families. With the right support, that quiet labor can grow into a force for food security and empowerment in Bangladesh’s most vulnerable regions.
