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Recurrent droughts over the years along with other factors have contributed to the current food insecurity and rapid erosion of biodiversity. Though everyone is affected by this trend, the effect is much felt by the poor in general and the female headed households in particular. Because of the gender role they have in the community and in the family women are extremely affected. Among others the responsibility of managing the family including preparation and appropriation of food as well as looking after the children and the sick makes women very vulnerable to the problem of food insecurity, resulting in deteriorated health conditions as the pressure in search of means to fill the gap increases. Hence, searching for means by which they can produce and benefit better from their backyards is essential in empowering them.

Not only availability but also quality of the food prepared and consumed matters. The different studies carried out so far indicate that though there is improvement in access to food, the quality remains poor indicating no improvements in the nutritional status of the children and the women. This is often worst during food shortage periods i.e. during drought. Thus, the introduction and expansion of drought resistant/tolerant crops with higher nutritional value such as cassava and sweet potato will have substantial importance in achieving food security by these groups; among others by increasing the productivity of the backyards and income generation capacities by women. Moreover, biodiversity of herbs and plants with medical values which also constitute a significant proportion of the biodiversity in the backyards will be maintained. Hence, generated results and the subsequent recommendations of the study will contribute to the development of strategies for the introduction of drought resistant and highly nutritional root crops along while maintaining the biodiversity of plants in backyards.