Gardening for self-sufficiency


High Diversity Gardening: vegetable gardening with results

Village of Peace’s food security project in Afghanistan, focuses on strengthening self-reliance in vulnerable communities. By combining emergency aid, interactive nutrition and hygiene training, and the High Diversity Gardening (HDG) program, this project helps single women and families to secure a sustainable food supply. Village of Peace thus offers an alternative to foreign emergency aid, enabling the Afghan population to find their own way to a healthy future.

Self-reliance for single mothers

Village of Peace helps vulnerable communities in Afghanistan, with a focus on single women and their families. The project supports these groups in their fight against malnutrition by training and guiding them towards a sustainable and self-reliant life.

 

Food insecurity and malnutrition in Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, many families suffer from food insecurity and malnutrition, caused by persistent poverty and limited access to resources. Single women and their children are among the most vulnerable groups, and lack of adequate nutrition leads to serious health problems and undermines their future prospects.

From emergency aid to self-reliance

Village of Peace strives for sustainable solutions to structurally tackle malnutrition. Instead of providing temporary emergency aid, the project focuses on strengthening self-reliance, so that Afghans can independently build a healthy and stable future. This approach prevents dependency and is in line with international sustainable development goals, namely SDGs 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 11, and 17.

Distribute supplies

In addition to interactive training, the women receive a starter kit to get started with vegetable gardening.

Interactive training

Many of the participants are illiterate. The interactive training is tailored to this.

Home gardening

Many women already have a piece of land near their homes. This allows them to put what they have learned into practice right away.

Abed, the eldest son in his family, says:

“After my father passed away, I could no longer go to school. Through Village of Peace, I received seeds, fertilizer and tools to work on our land. With the training I received, I can now provide my family with food and we can work towards a future without dependency.”

OUR APPROACH

Since 2014, Village of Peace has been training Afghans to rebuild their country. Our approach is holistic. Naturally, we provide food, medical care, and shelter where necessary, but the focus is on education, information, growing food, and finding a job. Our goal: a healthy and independent life for all single women and their children.

Self-reliance

Our focus is on helping Afghan widows and orphans escape malnutrition and become self-reliant. Our approach is a three-step process: where necessary, we first provide emergency aid, then we build a food-secure existence, with the ultimate goal of self-reliance.

Core values

Five core values form the heart of our organization. Together, these five core values form the basis of our work. Sustainable change requires a different way of thinking and acting. These core values help us achieve that.

Ownership

Ownership is central to Village of Peace. We do not want to create dependency. That is why we invest in the Afghan people. We support and coach them with money, knowledge, and expertise. This way, the people themselves are in charge of the solution.

Scientific evidence of impact

To tailor our training courses and projects as closely as possible to the local situation and target group, we work closely with Wageningen University & Research (WUR) and SEEDS Afghanistan. Based on scientific research, they measure the effectiveness and impact of our programs and provide advice on possible improvements. In this way, we work together to achieve a sustainable impact on food security and quality of life in Afghanistan.


Why Village of Peace?

This project in Afghanistan promotes long-term food security, health and economic stability, and aligns with international sustainable development goals. As a donor, you can make a direct impact with your support in Afghan lives and help break the cycle of poverty and malnutrition in one of the world’s most challenging regions.

“Give hope and help build a future where vulnerable Afghans can work towards self-reliance.”

From malnutrition to self-reliance

In Afghanistan, widows and orphans are at the bottom of society. It is a daily struggle for them to find food, resulting in malnutrition. We help these women to change their situation. Often, this means providing emergency aid first.

We then train them through practical education and help them build a food-secure existence.

This enables them to work on their self-reliance and regain their place in Afghan society. Food security is the springboard to a healthy and independent life, not only for the widow and her children, but also for her immediate network. In this way, she ultimately makes a difference locally.