25/05/2026
The household reality your program is probably ignoring
There is a simple test for whether a community food system will survive after you leave.
Can a household maintain it in under 20 minutes a day?
If yes — it has a chance.
If no — it will be abandoned.
Not eventually.
Quickly.
Women in most communities around active operations already carry:
— water collection
— firewood
— childcare
— cooking
— cleaning
— household income work
When your CSR program adds a food garden, you are adding to that load.
If the system is close to the kitchen, on the daily walking path,
manageable in under 20 minutes — it survives.
If it requires dedicated trips, coordination, or more than one person —
it collapses when your field team stops visiting.
The question to ask before any community food system is approved:
Can one person maintain this in 20 minutes a day during the dry season?
If the answer is no, the design is wrong.
Not the community.
Greg Knibbs
EDGE5
Post-Handover Viability Series — Book 3