A typical structure of home gardens in Nepal

• Although home gardens occupy a very small proportion of the total land holdings of the family (2-11%), they are rich in biodiversity (up to 87 species recorded in the home gardens surveyed by the project).
• Home gardens are a major source of vegetable and fruit supplies for the family (60% of the requirements are fulfilled by home gardens).
• Nepalese home gardens are largely vegetable based (37-48% of the total species planted in home gardens), with fruits, fodder, medicinal and ornamental plants.
• Home gardens have their own management systems and their production systems are mostly organic-based, with the maximum utilization of locally available resources.
• Many important plant species are undergoing a process of domestication in home gardens (11-37 species in studied sites) for their various uses.
• Mainly, those plant species with medicinal values are domesticated in the hills and mountains whereas in the Terai, fruits and vegetable species predominate.
• At least 4-8 percent of the food consumed by the poor comes from uncultivated sources in Nepal and supplement food requirement during periods of food scarcity.