A Family unlocking nutrition through Regenerative Farming
“Our daily meal used to be just rice and beans, until our newborn changed it all
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In 2022, over 40 families graduated from our Agricultural, Health & Nutrition Program in Gasabo District. Among the graduates are Niyirora Jean Marie Vianney and Ingabire Pauline. Like their colleagues, this family was among the vulnerable in meeting enough nutritional requirements for the family's health. This story showcases the growth and improvement of Niyirora's family's access to healthy food after training in regenerative agriculture.
One of the challenges Jean Marie Vianney and Pauline faced was growing up constantly eating the same diet.
"We grew up eating rice and cassava and always adding beans because it strengthens us when cultivating. To us, that was our typical meal." JMV says.
The family mentioned that the high-carb food was their favorite. However, they kept facing hardships raising their older children, who got sick often. The family also did not bother planting vegetables, and they sold what they grew (mostly pumpkins) at the market.
JMV and Pauline enrolled them in our regenerative agriculture intervention at a time they were expecting another baby.
The family learned new and innovative agricultural practices and basic nutrition concepts to take care of their kids. Fortunately, the family shares that they learned more than they expected to get out of the program.
"I thought the program was about learning to take care of our baby's health only, but I also came to learn more techniques in agriculture. I learned new bed building techniques; I didn't even know chickens could produce manure!" - Mentions Pauline.
Within 12 weeks, JMV and Pauline were trained in Regenerative Agriculture. They Learned to choose suitable crops based on their soil type and bed-building, which allows crops to adapt to climate change, agroforestry, essential seasonal care, and the proper management of small livestock.
The family also received small livestock to improve their animal source protein intake and increase their soil productivity using animal compost for manure.
Today, their youngest baby is 5 months old. On one of our home visits, we toured JMV and Pauline’s kitchen garden. It is well equipped with the necessary elements of a flourishing garden, luscious vegetables, tree tomato fruits, rabbits, and roaming chickens for eggs.
"After we graduated, we understood that eating rice and beans is not enough for a balanced diet. As we learned in training, we planted vegetables to complete our daily balanced diet, especially for my pregnant wife." - Jean Marie Vianney Describes.
In addition, chickens and rabbits have improved the family's nutrition along with their soil fertility due to the manure.
"The eggs helped our child to grow, especially during breastfeeding; I remember one day when she was pregnant, she ate eggs and had the energy to work more than me!" JMV shares with laughter.
JMV and Pauline's livestock are growing at a fast pace. They received 4 chickens, and after 2 months, they had 14. The family aims to increase their chicken and rabbits and extend their gardens with mixed vegetables.
JMV is confident that his family's food security will improve daily. While the livestock is growing, he also plans to sell eggs, thus making more income for the family. The family's future is cultivating and eating healthy food that gives them enough nutrients to be resilient to diseases and focuses on healthy bodybuilding.
