Teaching children how to farm

Kigamba community is located in the sparsely populated and Peri urban Kimaanya Kyabakuza Sub-County in Masaka, where 274 students between the ages of 8 and 14 attend Kigamba Community Primary School. 134 are boys, and the other 140 girls, taught and cared for by 10 dedicated teachers.

 Working with the community, NIRP joined the school administration to teach children how to to garden. Most of the children come from food insecure households within the community .

We provide seeds and other planting materials like vegetables and nurseries for the garden. We have supported the school plant 20 mango trees, 12 papaya ( pawpaw) trees and 10 orange trees still stand tall, promising to produce delicious, nutritious fruits in future.

“We also added sorghum and peas,” says Francis Tumwebaze, the head teacher and director of the school.

These fruits will be mostly consumed at the school by the school children, providing them with additional nutrition which complements the basic, cereal-based meals the school provides through their school feeding initiative.

When we get a surplus of fruits, the school will sell them to nearby communities, providing the community members with an additional food source to supplement their otherwise simple diet and improving the school’s income. Upon seeing the success of the school garden, neighbors are  learning the school project and replicating fruit gardens in areas near the school and in their homesteads. Fruit trees have become a common sight in the community.

“We shall get vitamins from Mangoes which protect our bodies from diseases!” - Mukasa Godfrey, 12 years old

Having a fruit garden at school allows children to have fruits rich in vitamins so they grow well and learn better at school. It also provides an opportunity to teach them about hands-on gardening and producing food.  The students learn to plant, grow and take care of fruit trees. Many of them take this knowledge home and start their own home garden, sharing the fruits of their knowledge with their families. Fruit trees contribute to carbon dioxide sequestration to reduce global warming and thus climate change mitigation. More efforts are still needed to restore and increase the tree cover for climate change. 

Thanks for all the donations that help us do this paramount work. Small efforts by everyone of us can create a better world for the poor affected by HIV and AIDS.