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School gardens in Kenya provide knowledge that grows

Despite the drought, everything is thriving at Golole Primary School in northern Kenya. In the school garden, both vegetables and hope for the future are being cultivated. Here, students learn about gardening—knowledge they can take home with them.

Eleven-year-old Guyo Haro Roba is in fifth grade at Golole Primary School. He enjoys spending time in the school garden. There, he learns how to plant and care for crops. He brings this knowledge home to share with his family.

Eleven-year-old Godana Guyo Liban is holding a large bunch of green sukuma in her hand. In the background, several other students in school uniforms can be seen.

Once a week, the students harvest fresh vegetables. Guyo Haro Roba has just harvested sukuma. Photo: Annika Fransson Wetter

“I really enjoy spending time in the garden. I’ve learned how to grow different vegetables and have told my parents what I’ve learned,” he says.

Golole Primary School is located in the small village of Golole in northern Kenya, an area where many families depend on livestock for their livelihood. When the rains fail, both water and food become scarce. The drought causes the animals to die, and farming becomes a challenge. Yet the school has managed to create a place where students can see how vegetables can grow, even under difficult conditions.

Students in grades 4 through 7 work together to tend the garden, dividing the tasks among themselves. Some pull weeds, while others water the plants or prepare the soil and plant new crops. Among other things, they grow spinach, cabbage, onions, and tomatoes here.

A group of children in school uniforms enters a fenced-in schoolyard. The grassy ground is dry. The Ethiopian mountains are visible in the background. A girl looks directly into the camera.

A few boys in school uniforms are filling water jugs from a simple well. The well is located just outside a green fence that surrounds a school garden in Kenya. Inside the fence, more students in school uniforms and green crops are visible.

Rob Buke holds out his hands toward some green plants growing inside the school garden's green netting.

About ten children in school uniforms are standing in a fenced-in school garden. They look happy. In the foreground, green cabbage is growing in brown soil.

Joseph Dida is a teacher and the person in charge of the garden. He sees how the students are growing through this experience.

“The students really enjoy working in the garden because they get to be actively involved. I show them what to do, and then they get to try it themselves. They learn new skills and can use that knowledge at home or share it with others in their community,” he says.

The students really enjoy working in the garden because they get to be involved themselves

Joseph Dida

Piles of schoolbooks in English about gardening.

A small group of students in school uniforms are filling green watering cans with water from the school’s well. The ground is dry, but in the background, the school garden’s green crops and a metal fence are visible.

Children in school uniforms tend to and harvest vegetables in a Kenyan school garden. The children are deeply focused on their work.

Children in school uniforms are harvesting Sukuma cabbage in a Kenyan school garden. One child is placing a large bundle of cabbage into a mint-green sack. Two children are holding up the sack.

Access to water has been a major challenge. Previously, students had to bring water from home in jugs to water their gardens. The water varied in quality and was often insufficient. Thanks to support from Erikshjälpen, the school has received a water tank and water pipes leading to the garden. Now the students can easily water their vegetables, even during dry spells.

The vegetables also serve as a valuable addition to school meals. Meals consist mainly of corn, beans, and rice, but now students can also enjoy vegetables from the school’s own garden. At the same time, they learn why a varied diet is important.

Guyo enjoys eating the vegetables they've grown themselves, which are then prepared in the school kitchen.

"The food has changed and tastes good," he says.

A group of Kenyan children is sitting under some trees, eating their school lunch. The children are wearing school uniforms. A brown handbag is hanging from one of the trees.

School lunch under the trees in the schoolyard at Golole Primary School in northern Kenya. Photo: Annika Fransson Wetter

Now that we have the school garden, the food tastes better

Guyo Haro Roba

For Guyo, the school garden is more than just a place where vegetables grow. Here, he gains knowledge that will stay with him at home and throughout his life, bringing him closer to his dream of becoming a teacher one day.