NASSAU, The Bahamas – Officials at the Flamingo Gardens Family Life Centre are putting their money where their mouths are when it comes to the Centre’s backyard farming initiative.

Almost one year after its launch in September, 2024 as part of the Empowerment Hour Programme, the Centre has planted and harvested a range of vegetables from lettuce, to chili peppers, lemon cucumbers, Asian melons, and more recently pumpkins, including a 28.2 pounder, to showcase how families can not only feed themselves, but also supplement their incomes through the sale of their produce, while ultimately helping to protect the environment.  A similar programme was launched at the Nassau Village Community Centre.

(The Empowerment Hour Programme, and all other programmes hosted at the Flamingo Gardens Family Life Centre, are facilitated by the Community Affairs Division of the Department of Social Services, Ministry of Social Services, Information and Broadcasting.)

Lisa Bowleg, the Officer-in-Charge of the Community Affairs Division, said the Centre’s collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, and specifically Mr. Danrey Sweeting, on the implementation of the backyard farming initiative, has been “fruitful.”

“I would say that we have been very successful as a group in turning the backyard space at the centre into a positive showcase of the potential of backyard farming,” Bowleg said. “The Department of Agriculture came in at the initial stages and shared tips and tools of how we could have a successful programme, and then they came in and showed us how to make that happen.

“From that period to now, we have had several harvests, and the consideration was that as we continue to grow and harvest, and teach and make persons within the community more and more aware of the possibilities of backyard farming even within a limited space, that we also continue to give back.”                                                                                                                                                                                                Bowleg said the Centre has been privileged to share its harvests with various individuals, families and institutions in the community free of charge. Beneficiaries have included residents of the two Senior Citizens Homes.

“The ability to share something out of our garden with our senior citizens that they can enjoy — whether it is a pumpkin soup, or a piece of roasted pumpkin, or boiled pumpkin is a blessing,” Bowleg continued. “What we are doing at the Flamingo Gardens Family Life Centre with the Empowerment Hour Programme, and more specifically with the Backyard Farming Initiative, is showing people that this is indeed possible and that it does not matter how young or old you are; whether you are able-bodied or whether you are differently-abled, that there is indeed a way to feed ourselves, to sustain ourselves and our family and also be able to share with other persons in the community.”

An avid backyard farmer who practices what she preaches, Bowleg said she views backyard farming as “the gift that keeps on giving.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                         “One of the persons we distributed the pumpkins to operates a Soup Kitchen free of charge on a monthly basis and so being able to assist her means that she can continue to share with others. The Soup Kitchen at the Good News Seventh-Day Adventist Church, a community partner of the Family Life Centre, has also been a recipient (and) so we are not just talking about passing on something where it stops, it’s the gift that keeps on giving because as we give to them, they are giving to others.”

Initially launched as a means of getting adult residents of the community to appreciate the many benefits associated with backyard farming, the Programme was recently extended to participants of the Centre’s annual Camp Climate Action where they were provided with instruction on how to re-use and recycle old tires, pots and pans, and cups and bottles within which to grow their fruits, vegetables and various herbs. Seventy children participated in the Camp that also focused on climate change and its impacts on communities and children; hurricane preparedness (packing a proper disaster supply kit); food security (food insecurity is a fall-out from climate change); backyard farming, and preserving the environment (plant life, marine life, animal life).

Bowleg said Camp Climate Action provided facilitators and presenters with the opportunity to teach a young generation of Bahamians about the things they can do to help preserve and sustain our environment at an early age. Campers were also taught how to make compost from organic materials like yard waste (dry leaves, etcetera) and food scraps (peels from fruits and vegetables including bananas, oranges, potatoes, apples, etcetera). The compost is then added to the soil to improve its properties.                                                                                                                                                                                                                               She said the garden at the Flamingo Gardens Family Life Centre, is “proof positive” about the attributes of backyard farming.                                                                                                                                                                   “More people need to understand that there are many opportunities to grow their own fruits, vegetables and herbs – organically — no matter how small their yard space may be.  Additionally, herbs such as basil, rosemary, thyme, cilantro, etcetera, can all be grown and harvested in various sized containers in kitchens which eliminates the need for yard space. Backyard farming is a wonderful initiative that not only helps with food security, but also the economic, social and physical and mental health benefits of persons who participate in it.”