The project “Development of sustainable integrated food production systems to enhance household food and nutritional security, economic growth and livelihood of resource poor families in the Northern Region of Sri Lanka” was implemented successfully in selected five districts namely, Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu and Mannar. Based on the population in resettled areas, families were selected and a survey was conducted to assess the livelihood of people especially with resource availability in terms of manpower, infrastructure, income generation, diets and living standards. After the survey, one home garden in each district was selected as a model and training programs were conducted periodically to educate the other families in the district of home gardening concept under this specific project to uplift their livelihoods.
Over the reporting period of 3 years, the livelihood of the resettled people improved immensely. The simple innovations, e.g. cages and baskets made of old bicycle rims, vehicle tyres, palmyrah leaf etc., and the use of household Research at Bench and Beyond waste to enrich the sandy soils, allowed the families to grow leafy vegetables and other vegetable crops in their home gardens improving their nutritional status. The home gardens also provided fresh fruit such as mango, guava and banana and vegetables such as onions, moringa and brinjals for home consumption. These became supplementary sources of food and in many cases brought-in an additional income too to the families. It is reported that some families earned as much as Rs. 10,000/- per month as additional income from their home gardens.