Small-scale gardening to combat desertification and alleviate hunger and poverty

For years we have been promoting family gardens (kitchen gardens) and school gardens in the debate on combating desertification, alleviation of hunger and poverty.  We have always insisted on the fact that development aid should concentrate on initiatives to boost food security through small-scale family gardens instead of international food aid on which the most of the recipients remain totally dependent. Since the early nineties it was shown that developing countries with community gardens in rural villages, family gardens and school gardens, where people and children are able to grow their own produce, are better off than those who received food from aid organizations at regular intervals.

Locally produced fresh vegetables and fruits play an important role in the daily diet of all those hungry people in the drylands.  Take for instance the possibility of having a daily portion of…