Development in Gardening: Reap Life!

As the global population rises and arable land disappears, it becomes increasingly vital that Africa boosts its food production. Many solutions call for a “Green Revolution” in Africa, similar to the agricultural transformation of the 1960s and 1970s that took hold in Asia and Latin America. A similar movement in Africa would require a serious overhaul in development policy, resource management and infrastructure. It might also employ unsustainable farming practices, such as crop monocultures and the use of petroleum-based fertilizers and genetically modified seeds. There is another school of thought that sees Africa’s potential in a different light: teaching sustainable practices to small-scale farmers. This is the approach of Development in Gardening, also know by its acronym, DIG.

Development in Gardening was founded in 2006 by two former Peace Corps volunteers to improve the lives of those affected by HIV/AIDS. DIG provides the supplies and technical know-how to create customized urban micro-gardens at HIV clinics, hospitals, orphanages, and patients’ homes. They work primarily in Africa, but they also have two project sites in Latin America. They contribute to five of the eight United Nations Millennium Development Goals and seek to address the connections between HIV/AIDS, poverty, hunger and malnutrition. It is essential that HIV/AIDS patients receive proper nutrition as antiretroviral therapy is much less effective for those who are malnourished.

DIG collaborates with organizations already working in the community, which reduces start-up time and duplicative work. The organization emphasizes sustainability by training people to train each other, incorporating found materials and objects into their garden designs, water conservation and creating seed banks. The hope is that those who learn gardening techniques from the organization will bring those skills back to their neighborhoods and create their own plots and communal gardens with what they have available to them.

Perhaps the greatest gift of DIG is not what they teach but the social and psychological benefits experienced by the patients. The gardens provide a calm, meditative and positive environment; they strengthen community ties and reduce the social isolation that many HIV/AIDS patients experience. Participants have the opportunity to learn a skill-set, pass along their knowledge and improve their overall self-worth. Most of their participants are women with few life skills and their work with DIG helps them to become self-sufficient and sustaining. DIG empowers HIV/AIDS patients in the poorest regions of the world to improve their lives and the lives of those around them. This is best summed up by one of their participants: “I don’t want people to give us things – that’s not what it’s about. We want to do things for ourselves.”


Sarah Koch, co-founder of Development In Gardening, talks about the organization’s work in Africa and the importance of women:



Sarah Koch, 2008 YouthActionNet Fellow, talks about DIG
Laura Bush praising DIG
Segment about DIG on WBEZ 91.5

See how DIG has changed the lives of these women:
Florence's Story
Robina's Story
Learn more about the nutritional requirements of those living with HIV/AIDS

Photos courtesy of Development In Gardening