Kilimanjaro, TZ – Mkyashi Primary School breakfast contributes to academic performance – Jun 2025

Mkyashi Primary School, in collaboration with Lishe Bora and Rollins College, has continued to successfully maintain a vegetable garden established in 2014 to support student health nutrition. The school is able to provide nutritious breakfasts to over 440 children and 10 teachers each school day.

Last year, this program contributed to remarkable attendance and academic performance results: all class seven students passed their exams and advanced to secondary school. This is a proud achievement that clearly shows the positive impact of proper breakfast on educational success.

To improve the daily breakfast, the school is now looking forward to harvesting bananas from 20 trees planted with support from Rollins College. Bananas grown in cool weather with the fertile soil, on the lower slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, are expected to enhance and diversify breakfast options. These include banana, vegetables, corn and beans providing vital nutrients and carbohydrates that support children’s health, energy, and learning at school.

With ongoing weekly mentorship from Lishe Bora to the school’s garden clubs, students are gaining practical knowledge in sustainable vegetable gardening, and banana farming. The school now aims to expand to 50 banana trees, ensuring a sustainable harvest for a daily breakfast and generating surplus for sale at local markets to support school self-reliance projects to create a lasting impact in the lives of the children.