Significance of home garden, determinant of its sustainability, and the influence of the gardener's experience on the decision to be involved in mainstream farming

Home garden is an ecological interaction system between human beings and nature, such as the plants, animals, soil and water in a specific area around the home. Home gardening faces various challenges, including a lack of care, the problem of pest control, poor maintenance/management, inadequate application of necessary agricultural techniques, improper use of inputs such as water, unhealthy seeds or seedlings and poor soil quality, as well as inconsistent and sporadic involvement by the household. Some individuals in the household lack the necessary regard for the home garden, thereby affecting its sustainability, despite its contributions to income, food security, nutritional security, dietary diversification, recreation, as well as emotional and psychological improvements. However, research is still lacking in crucial aspects, including factors that affect the sustainability of home gardening and the gardeners' willingness/determination to transfer knowledge gained from home gardening to mainstream agricultural participation, which this research investigated amidst other objectives. This research reports its outcome on 104 home gardeners among 360 sampled households in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, using descriptive, ordinary least squares (OLS) and logistic regression as the analytical tools. The results show that some, but few, households were actively engaged in their home gardens by cultivating their plots twice to three times a year. The logistic results show that experience gained from home gardening influences the gardeners' willingness to engage in mainstream agricultural activities. The OLS model indicates that household size, level of education, knowledge of farming systems; including crop rotation, compost and animal manures, as well as the combined use of organic and inorganic manures, significantly influence the sustainability of home gardening. The interview revealed that home gardening makes neglected and Underutilized Crop Species (NUCS) or crops not commonly available in an area accessible to households for health and other benefits. Home gardening enables immigrants to experiment with and cultivate crop species from their place of origin in their new location. Home gardens provide indigenous horticultural crops, even in a foreign land. Home garden awareness should be intensified.