A PROJECT which was initiated by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations is trying to prove that sometimes it takes a child – or children – to raise a village.
This is exactly the opposite of a proverb which says that “It takes a village to raise a child.”
In the south side of the province of Laguna, three communities have taken the lead from their young people in transforming their elementary schools – and, in one case, a wasteland – into small-scale gardens in order to supplement the food supply of local residents and schools.
The project began in 2017, with a partnership between FAO and a local NGO Yakap Kalikasan Tungo sa Kaunlaran ng Pilipinas, Inc. (also known as Yakap Kalikasan).
The students of the three schools visited an organic farm where they were involved in sowing, cultivating, and harvesting organic vegetables.
Besides basic gardening methods, there were demonstrations on composting, vertical gardening and botanical pest control.
A local garden is a simple yet powerful benefit to a community because it not only provides food for the community but also helps in developing a sustainable approach to food production and consumption.
The children could see endless possibilities beyond the simple purpose of using land for growing their own food.
Kapayapaan Integrated School (KIS), one of the project’s beneficiaries, started to grow its own organic kitchen garden and vertical wall in its grounds.
Here, students cultivate their own lettuce, cucumbers and beans, growing marigolds alongside the vegetables.
The Paciano-Rizal Elementary School is hoping to supplement its canteen ingredients with string beans, okra, eggplant and Chinese lettuce, all grown in beds behind the school buildings.
The vegetables produced by the youth group are now being used in the school’s canteen.
The students also learned about the cultivation process from sowing the seeds to transplanting them into the separate vegetable beds, maintaining the seeds until they are ready to be harvested.
The first phase was the most difficult at KIS, but the kids responded to the challenge with energy, creativity, and innovation.
They watered the plants, weeded the garden and created their own environmentally-friendly forms of pest control such as using black pepper mixed with water as a homemade insect spray and scattering eggshells on the earth to boost the soil.
Just as in any farm, not all of the crops were a raging success, however, the project allowed the youth to experience different sustainable farming practices to produce their own food.
These projects attempt to address the twin problems of food security and the important benefits of maintaining a healthy diet both in school and at home.
A welcome side-effect to these school gardens have been the creation of gardens in local residents’ homes.
The students hope that this initiative will continue and contribute to improving their prospects for a nutritious and food secure future.
By investing in the future generation, FAO is empowering them to take action and be a part of the global goal to achieve Zero Hunger. (jaypeeyap@ymail.com/PN)
