Hunger and malnutrition are social barriers that impact negatively on classroom performance. To address this, the Department of Basic Education has adopted a range of national policies, strategies and programmes. Among them is the Jala Peo School Food and Nutrition Gardens Initiative.
This programme presents educators and learners with an opportunity for hands-on experience and insight into small-scale agricultural principles. It also offers a valuable resource for teachers to deliver quality educational outcomes. Besides, the project promotes the greening of the community, contributing to nutritious, fresh produce to supplement school meals.
The multi-stakeholder, Forum on District Level, facilitated the setting up, training and maintenance of the gardens at the identified schools.
Nineteen schools in Parys and Vredefort, both primary and secondary, currently benefit from the programme. In Limpopo, there are another 29 schools and, on the West Coast, there are 19 more that are part of the programme, according to Nelly Komape, the project coordinator under the Fezile Dabi District.
She added that the five-year project was started in October 2018 with Jet Educa- tion Services, Tshikululu Social Investments and the Free State Department of Education as the main role-players.
Other roleplayers in the Fezile Dabi District Forum include the Department of Agriculture, Department of Health, Wessa, CTE Agri, Departments of Roads and Safety, VUT, Weiveld Hotel and Agriculture Schoool, Jet Education Services, Ngwathe (VUP), Lotsha and Circuit 5 SGB.
To encourage schools that are part of the programme, the National School Nutrition Programme hosted the Jala Peo Nutrition Garden competition. Schools that are part of the programme can enter. Among all the other sponsors, Parys Rotary was the only local sponsor for prizes.
Sindekile Intermediate School grabbed the winning prize out of the nine schools from Parys and Vredefort that participated. For their achievement, the school received a voucher of R2,500 for gardening equipment and tools and a trophy and certificate.
Boitlamo Secondary was the runner-up in the competition with Ntataiso Primary coming third.
When judging the gardens, the size of the garden, innovating ideas and creativity were all considered. The judges also looked at overall tidiness, inter-row spacing, different types of produce and quality, what is done with the produce, how water is conserved. Learner involvement and neatness in the NSNP Kitchen environment were taken into account, too.
Although there is still a lot to be learnt about how these gardens can be integrated and used to benefit the current feeding schemes and how to be self-sustained, there has been significant progress. All that remains is for a community to take ownership of these gardens and educate schools on the benefits.
