A survey carried out by the Foundation for Rural Integrated Enterprises N Development or FRIEND found that squatter residents in Lautoka faced one common problem - the lack of land space for gardening.
As reported in Fiji Times Online, FRIEND program officer Vive Liutaki said their teams visited many underprivileged families in Lautoka to encourage normal backyard gardening but they realised not everyone had space.
"That's when FRIEND started introducing square foot gardens, 16 squares in one plot, where they can plant 16 different vegetables and also hanging gardens," she said.
"When we surveyed the coastal line of Lautoka we found that sea water was destroying vegetables gardens and plantations along this area
"When the tide comes in, the gardens near the coast were damaged, that's where FRIEND started encouraging homes in these areas to change their gardening style."
Ms Liutaki said they had been working with three communities in Lautoka Navutu, Nasoata, Naqiroso. She said for the Nasoata community the program started last year, while in the other two communities work started after the last tsunami warning this year. She said for Navutu there were about 26 backyard gardens, while the rest were square foot and hanging gardens.
"People should make use of their old fridges, cupboard for their garden plots. The hanging gardens are a new idea," she said.
"At the moment we are only focusing on Lautoka but there are plans in the pipeline to branch out to other districts. We only see flowers hanging, why can't we have hanging vegetables or the different types we eat. It's also good for hygiene. In the community we have a lot of stray dogs that enter and damage people's backyard gardens.
"This is the healthiest way to keep the gardens."
Source: Fiji Times Online
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