Gardens for Health International

To improve their nutrition health through low cost agriculture practices.

Overview

Enable HIV positive individuals to improve their nutrition and health through low cost sustainable agriculture practices.Worldwide malnutrition robs an estimated 170 million children of their health and their futures. Not only does chronic malnutrition contribute to poorer performance in school lower income and lower life expectancy but it can also weaken a child s ability to survive deadly diseases like malaria and pneumonia. It is a contributing factor in over one third of all early childhood deaths in sub Saharan Africa. In Rwanda a staggering 44% of children under the age of five suffer from chronic malnutrition. Emergency food aid is the most common treatment for malnutrition. While it saves lives this form of treatment cannot solve the long term health and nutritional challenges that families face. Gardens for Health International steps in where food aid stops. Our innovative approach brings agricultural support and comprehensive health education to rural health centers in regions with a high prevalence of chronic childhood malnutrition. From working one on one with families enrolled in our program to collaborating with the Rwandan Ministries of Health and Agriculture to advocate for policies and initiatives that integrate agriculture into the treatment of malnutrition we promote a model that has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of malnutrition in rural healthcare systems. We work in twenty partner health centers in Rwanda s Gasabo and Musanze Districts helping approximately 3000 new families each year to break the cycle of malnutrition in their homes and communities.