Many had spent years as homemakers with little opportunity for paid work. Today, as part of the Madras Malis initiative, they travel across neighbourhoods helping households establish and maintain organic kitchen gardens.The programme traces its roots to the Chennai Resilience Centre’s Chennai Urban Farming Initiative, launched in 2021 to promote organic edible gardening in urban spaces. The idea was simple: encourage residents to grow food at home, both as a source of nutrition and as a way to create greener, climate-resilient neighbourhoods where plants help reduce urban heat.Workshops and training sessions were organised with residents, teachers and community groups across the city. But as participation grew, organisers began noticing a recurring challenge. While many residents were eager to start kitchen gardens, sustaining them required technical knowledge most did not possess.“Residents often told us that even after attending workshops, maintaining a garden was still difficult,” says Ayesha Ajmal, Junior Research Associate and Communications Manager at the Chennai Resilience Centre, who coordinates Mali assignments, manages social media, and assists with training sessions. “There were challenges with pests, soil health and identifying the right inputs to use.”