Gumma block, Odisha — As communities in rural Odisha look for ways to manage greywater and improve food access, a simple solution is gaining ground: grow what you eat, using what you waste.

In villages across Odisha’s Kandhamal and Gajapati districts, households are finding a new way to improve their diets, manage wastewater, and reduce dependency on distant markets: by growing vegetables in their own backyards.

In partnership with Gram Vikas, families in nine Gram Panchayats have begun cultivating home gardens as part of a broader wastewater management initiative. The programme not only promotes safe reuse of greywater but also strengthens household nutrition by ensuring year-round access to fresh vegetables.

In four Panchayats in Kandhamal district—Rutungia, Saudra, Sindhrigaon (Baliguda block), and Sirtiguda (K Nuagaon block)—645 eligible households received seeds to grow pumpkin, bitter greens, kosala, and spinach. Similarly, in March 2025, 590 households in Munising, Taraba, Ukhura, Rangidi, and Guguni Panchayats in the Gumma block of Gajapati district were supported with seasonal vegetable seeds.

Backyard gardening has helped address wastewater stagnation, a common issue in many rural homes. Instead of allowing water from kitchens and bathing areas to pool and attract pests, households are now redirecting it to small garden beds, where it supports the growth of nutritious crops.

For women like Mata Diggal, 32, from Bandhaguda village in Sirtiguda Panchayat, the change is significant. With her husband working as a construction labourer in Hyderabad and her son away at a residential school, Mata often had to rely on neighbours travelling to the market 10 kilometres away to bring back vegetables. “Travelling to K Nuagaon or Baliguda for vegetables is difficult,” she said. “With the seeds I received, I will grow vegetables behind my house. It will save me money and effort, and I won’t have to depend on others.”

The initiative is also showing results in villages where families own little to no land. In Rangidi village in Gajapati district, Espanjani Gamanga, 25, and her husband Enash, a daily wage worker, are growing vegetables in cement sacks they would otherwise discard. “That is all the space I have—just enough to keep sacks around my home,” said Espanjani. By repurposing the sacks and filling them with soil, the couple has created a compact kitchen garden that meets part of their dietary needs.

Water scarcity makes even small-scale cultivation a challenge in these hilly regions, but using wastewater provides a practical solution. The low-cost, resource-efficient model of backyard gardening has made it easier for families to grow what they eat, even without access to agricultural land.

The initiative supports more than food security. It improves dietary diversity, promotes hygienic wastewater use, and builds household resilience. As more families take up home gardening, the programme offers a model for integrating nutrition, sanitation, and local resource use into everyday village life.

Reported by Ranjit Dutta, Mihir Kumar Bhuyan, and Chandrika Patnaik from Gram Vikas.