Widows Garden Objectives

The main objective of the Widows Garden Program is to help women in Afghanistan to improve their economic situation through agricultural, literacy and marketing efforts. This objective will be accomplished through the process of teaching women to garden in their immediate compound, teaching them to harvest products in order to provide food for their families, teaching them to market the product both as harvested and additionally as manufactured goods, and teaching the women literacy.

PARSA’s master gardener will conduct lessons for a full growing cycle of one year to train the women to produce fresh vegetables. Lessons learned in the Widows Garden at PARSA’s Women’s Center will be applied in their gardens throughout the year. The master gardener will routinely visit the garden plots to advise and insure that the women are successful. The director will work with the women throughout the year to market their vegetables. Included in this training will be lessons in vegetable and fruit preservation.

The Widow’s Garden Program will also include a weekly support group for the participating widows to allow them to address issues in their lives that are barriers to succeeding. The director will be working with them to help them adjust to a post-war life, and the life of a single mother who is providing the income for her family.

The secondary objective of the program will be to document the program in order for it to be replicable in other communities.