Ngara, TZ – Sustainable school breakfast project nearing end of Phase 2 – 16 Sep 2016

Students at Mukibogoye Primary School are close to completing the second phase of implementing their sustainable school breakfast program. Phase 1 included building and maintaining six Food Always In The Home organic vegetable gardens (72 8 meter x 1 meter beds). Phase 2 calls for the continued maintenance of the gardens in addition to starting a 3 acre banana plantation with 600 banana trees. SODAT is working with the students to have 600 trees planted by the beginning of October.

SODAT has provided school breakfast for students at Mukibogoye and two other primary schools since 2010. Now SODAT is working with Mukibogoye to make the program sustainably self-reliant. Sustainably self-reliant means the project is able to continue delivering daily breakfast without ongoing outside charity.

SODAT formed two school garden clubs in May to help start the project by building and maintaining six organic vegetable gardens. Once students showed they could reliably maintain the gardens SODAT began collaborating with them to plan the banana plantation. Everybody agreed the banana trees should be planted at the beginning of October to take advantage of the rainy season to help the trees’ roots set.

Trying to achieve this goal in time became an “all hands on deck” effort. While the school garden clubs watered and maintained the school gardens, all other students had weekly shifts clearing land and helping SODAT employees dig holes for planting banana trees. Momentum is growing as the project progresses. A local agricultural college donated 600 banana tree seedlings to the primary school.

Now, all 600 holes have been dug and manure has been delivered for planting. Next week, parents will join the effort by uprooting seedlings at the college and carrying them to the primary school while students receive the seedlings and plant them.