School Feeding Project
The school feeding programme at Mzimuni Primary School provides tremendous opportunities to engage pupils outdoors, through practical learning, as well as providing a source of nutrition through the school gardening setting.
Why it is so important:
Mzimuni Primary School
Poverty in the community of Mzimuni Primary school is a leading factor in the implementation of the feeding programme. Children are sent to school hungry and living on nutritionally deficient food, leading to absenteeism and concentration problems. Mzimuni teachers report that on average 23% of students have good concentration levels in class.
To improve Tanzanian diets in coming years, coordination nutrition-sensitive policy actions will be required on both the supply-and demand-sides. We work with rural schools in the region/mkoa of Arusha, where child stunting rates are more prevalent at 31% in the mkoa of Arusha. Arusha is also one of the lowest regions where children are given sufficient Vitamin A, with only 33% of children reaching this. This has long term health impacts if not addressed within childhood. The impact of nutritional deficiency takes away from their classroom learning and therefore impacts future economic prospects.
Parents are extremely supportive of the programme, wanting to decrease their child’s hunger and increase their nutritional intake, widening their school meals from a usual small portion of maize and beans for lunch. This leads to the onset of better learning and cognitive functions in their newly renovated classrooms and therefore creates a better school learning experience. The total budget for the construction of the garden is £16,406. This is alongside hundreds of hours of volunteer work aided its completion. This shows the real dedication of the school's community to its improvement, leading to the successful implementation of the project! With the need to fill the nutritional void in the children's diets, the gardens are plentiful in fruit and vegetables, including 500 banana trees and 25 avocado trees. This project should lead to an overall improved school experience for 667 students, with increased attendance and improved nutrition.
It also provides the students with an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the nutritional value's different foods hold, in a practical setting. This is developed alongside our kitchen programme at Mzimuni. Tying this altogether, students gain a greater understanding on the importance of food to their learning and greater life.
The garden preparation and community engagement at Mzimuni primary school 2024
How will it work in practice? - Sustainability and Future Proofing
Garden planning and design is the first step
Management of the garden: Employment of a local farmer of £35 a month for one year to manage the garden alongside the students and teachers. The farmer will be paid from sales of vegetables and school/ community contributions. This creates a self-sustaining model.
Irrigation system: Water Source and management plan including 6x 5000 litre tanks to collect rainwater for watering the crops.
Curriculum Integration
Harvesting and consumption involves using the newly renovated kitchen and sales to the local community.
Mzimuni is one of nine schools which the gardening project is hoped to be enrolled in the future.
Students at Umoja Primary school where students are learning and harvesting vegetables for the gardening project
If you would like to donate towards our school feeding project please click the button below!
By Charley Heywood