The possibility of having vegetables daily on the family menu at no cost is the idea that three astute women from Uganda have bought into. Since 2018, Suena Chebet of Kabortin village in Kween District, Lydia Cherotwo of Swenya village in Kapchorwa District, and Nabugwaya Nancy of Buwanagadi village in Mbale District have been growing vegetables in garden bags. The Promotion of Nutrition-Sensitive Potato Value Chains in East Africa (PNSP) project recruited farmers into Farmer Field Business Schools and trained them on kitchen gardening as one way to diversify their diet. 

Although they live in three separate districts of Eastern Uganda and do not know each other, these female farmers shared a common challenge: a limited supply of vegetables for their families in the dry season. 

Vegetables are an important source of vitamins and minerals necessary for health and well‑being. In Eastern Uganda, one in three women of reproductive age and one in two children below the age of five are anemic. Eating vegetables improves dietary micronutrient intake for both women and children. In a country in which the majority of rural communities practice rainfed agriculture, addressing dietary diversity is a challenge during the dry season.