Teaching students to grow vegetables and fruits to improve nutrition
Abuja - The FAO Representative, Fred Kafeero, on Thursday October 14 joined students at the Government Day Secondary and Junior Secondary Schools in Karu, Abuja today to harvest onions and tomatoes from their gardens as part of the activities to mark the 2021 World Food Day.
Through the School Garden Project, FAO in collaboration with the Federal Capital Territory, (FCTA) and Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nigeria, (FMARD), is supporting five schools in Abuja to establish and run vegetable and fruit gardens in order to improve nutrition among students, teachers and surrounding communities.
The schools, which have also established gardens for the purpose, include the Government Day Secondary School, Royal School Kuje, Junior Secondary School Pykassa, Junior Secondary School Garki and Junior Secondary School Karu.
The project aims to equip students, teachers and surrounding communities with skills and knowledge for growing food especially vegetables by providing nutrition education geared towards improved dietary habits and making better food choices. The aim is to cut the perpetuation of the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition.
Through the project, students have demonstrated skills in growing and sharing this knowledge and products with their families.
Some schools sold the vegetables and fruits to staff and members of the public to raise funds to maintain their gardening activities. Other students have established gardens at home as a result of the training and knowledge they got from the project.
Best performers awarded
In efforts to motivate students, teachers and schools whose gardens stood out in terms of care taking, harvests and participatory approaches, the project formed a joint committee by all the key stakeholders involved in the project which went around and inspected all the gardens in the five schools and identified the winners. The winners were awarded certificates of recognition and plaques as a way of appreciating their efforts in making the project the success it is.
The winners
- Overall Best School - Government Day Secondary School, Karu
- Best School Garden 1st - Government Day Secondary School, Karu
- Best School Garden 2nd - Junior Secondary School, Karu
- Best School Garden 3rd - Junior Secondary School, Pyakasa
- Best Committed Student 1st - Chirduben Faith (Junior SecondarySchool, Karu)
- Best Committed Student 2nd - Asukwo Favour (Government DaySecondary School, Karu)
- Best Committed Teacher 1st - Mr. Charles Aglata (GovernmentDay Secondary School, Karu)
- Best Committed Teacher 2nd - Mr. Christopher Adie (JuniorSecondary School, Karu)
- Best Committed Teacher 3rd - Mr. Olarewaju Olatunde(TheRoyal's School, Kuje
- Best Water Manager - Mr. Pius Wakili (Junior Secondary School,Pyakasa)
For more details Comtact:
Emmanuel Kihaule David Tsokar Opeyemi Olagunju
Communications Specialist Communications Specialist Communications/Reporting Officer
FAO Nigeria FAO Nigeria FAO Nigeria – North East Sub Office