Like thousands of other primary students in rural Tanzania, 12-year-old Sharifa was often in-and-out of school.
While primary education is free in Tanzania, some schools ask parents to support school feeding programs, either through monthly fees or contributing food supplies like maize flour.
Many families are also required to cover costs like uniforms, books, and other learning materials. For some families living in Mnacho, these costs and contributions are often too high to meet.
For girls like Sharifa, accessing education is also hindered by negative attitudes towards girls’ education, child marriage, and unequal burden of domestic responsibilities.
Ali, a nutrition teacher at Mnacho Primary School, noticed that lunchtime was a challenge for many students.
The Mnacho school meal program was not affordable for some students, who often had no choice but to walk back home for lunch.
“[But] many parents aren’t back yet from the farm… when they go home to eat food, they find that their parent isn’t home,” explained Teacher Ali .
Faced with empty homes, some students waited for their parents, and others tried to cook for themselves. As a result, many couldn’t make it back to school on time. Fearing the consequences of being late, most chose not to return at all.
When Teacher Ali heard about a committee aimed at finding solutions to help students stay in school, he decided to join.
This committee was supported by Aga Khan Foundation Canada as part of a program to support education systems at the pre-primary and primary levels.
“We named our team ‘Team Wapambanaji’ [meaning ‘The Fighters’ in Swahili], because the people here are fighters, [they] work hard to earn a living through farming activities. There is a spirit of determination.”
Teacher Ali and his team decided to pilot a food-producing farm to increase school attendance.
“It was a good, strong idea due to the resources around Mnacho Primary School,” said Teacher Ali.
“The first resource is land... The other resource is water; it is available in nearby places. The other resource is people. There are parents and guardians of students and teachers too.”
Now, tucked away behind Mnacho Primary School is a 2.5-acre garden, which grows pigeon peas, cabbage, spinach, and maize.
Students take turns tending to the garden every morning and evening, weeding the plants and fetching water from the nearby stream.
Parents, grandparents, and community members take turns harvesting the crops and preparing meals, providing lunch for every student.
Arafa, Sharifa’s mother, is one of the parents who volunteers to prepare the school meals.
Since Sharifa has started eating lunch every day at school, Arafa has noticed not just improved learning and better academic performance but also changes in her daughter’s health and well-being.
“[Sharifa] was quite small before, but after [the school meal program], I see her body is improving and becoming stronger.”
Chienjele Primary School was also supported by a Green Champion, a local youth trained in regenerative agriculture, part of another Aga Khan Foundation initiative.
Dotted around the school are small drip irrigation set-ups, one of the easy, low-cost solutions suggested by their Green Champion. The school also makes its own biosprays – natural fertilizers and pesticides – using locally-available materials like crushed, dried leaves and manure.
The school gardens have not only become a place of learning for students, but also their parents.
Teacher Evalina says that students often tell their parents what they have learned, and some students have started their own gardens at home.
Parents are supportive of the school garden, because they know their children will be eating nutritious meals at school and parents can continue with their household or farming duties – without having to worry about their children or leave work during the day. Some parents have also come to the school to see the garden and learn about growing more resilient and nutritious crops.
“Education is the act of gaining different kinds of knowledge, from various sources, and that knowledge can be formal or informal. It can be in the classroom… but we can also get it outside the classroom, for example, learning about gardening,” said Teacher Evalina.
The garden is also a source of motivation for the students.
“The vegetables attract children because they know they’ll get delicious food, nice vegetables… they come to school on time, but also, they are very active in engaging in agricultural activities,” she said. “They go, ‘Teacher, I want to try! Teacher, I want to harvest the vegetables!’.”
For Teacher Evalina, the school garden is a symbol of hope.
“Through the garden project, students can now regularly attend school because even if their family is a low-income family and can't have dinner, when they come to school, they're sure that they can have lunch at school and be full, they are more likely to stay [in school].”
What began as a small effort by a determined group of teachers like Ali, parents, and students in rural Lindi has grown into a model of what’s possible when people come together.
The school gardens at Mnacho Primary School and Chienjele Primary School aren’t just feeding students; they are addressing barriers to education, improving their health, and helping to build a future where every learner can thrive.
Credits:
Rich Townsend / Aga Khan Foundation Canada