Kilimanjaro, TZ – School plans to expand garden – 15 Aug 2014

Mkyashi Primary School started its school garden with Lishe Bora Garden Shop on February 18, 2014. The school garden is tended to by a Kaka Bustani (“Garden Brother”) named Laurenti. Laurenti has proven to be a quick learner and a careful worker and his efforts have benefited both Mkyashi Primary School and the garden shop.

The garden at Mkyashi Primary School.

Working together with students from the school, Laurenti has maintained a very productive garden at the school. The school has harvested an estimated 150,000 TZS (US$93.75) worth of vegetables since starting its garden. Productivity has been maintained by carefully following relay planting, crop rotation, and harvesting best-practices. These practices continuously improve soil quality, reduce pest problems and help each harvest to be as productive as the previous one.

The administration at Mkyashi Primary School is so satisfied with the garden that they are interested in expanding and building two more gardens. The school has two other garden plots which are only using traditional gardening methods. The productivity of these plots could be greatly increased if the school decides to commit to Food Always In The Home (FAITH) garden best practices.

The schools FAITH Garden (foreground) has been much more productive than the two traditional gardens (visible between the FAITH Garden and the school).

The 420 students at the school are eating vegetables almost every day at school. Additional gardens could create a surplus which would allow the school to sell vegetables. The money could be put towards buying other important school meal inputs such as corn and salt. This would reduce the amount of money that parents have to contribute for school lunch. School lunch fees are a major cause of poor attendance, as children can be excluded from school for failing to pay fees.

Laurenti – right – with the father of the PAM family in the family’s newly planted garden.

For now Laurenti and the Lishe Bora Garden Shop team are focused on increasing family food self-reliance by building gardens for as many of the Mkyashi Primary School children’s families as possible.