School Gardens Are Cool

According to the World Food Program, 1 in 9 people still go to bed hungry each night while 1 in 3 children suffer from some form of malnutrition. Malnutrition, which results from unbalanced diets, is a major health challenge to many children in poor communities in Sub Sahara. It is for this reason that in 2015, the global community came together at the United Nations and adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals – for People, Planet and Prosperity. Goal 2 – Zero Hunger aims at ending hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. Through our work we have seen many children come to school hungry. As a result, they sleep most of the time; they can’t learn well, show decreased physical activity with poor cognitive abilities leading to poor academic performance. At Hope for Children Cameroon, we believe that investing in nutrition in order to break the cycle of poverty and schools and communities have the potential to overcome hunger and malnutrition through school gardens which serves as a source of healthy eating and a platform for learning.

Our main objective is to raise children's interest in a more varied diet while encouraging them to acquire attitudes of cooperation, responsibility, self-esteem and the value of work. 4 schools and 3 communities are already benefitting from this. School gardens can make a huge difference in children's lives by showing them how to grow their own food in a safe and sustainable way, giving them access to nutrient-rich fruit and vegetables desperately lacking in their diets, and encouraging their families to do the same at home. We help kids to like nutritious homegrown foods and show them the link between what they grow, what they eat and how they feel. This program brings together school children, families and communities in a common endeavor to be aware of gardening practices in their communities- thereby bringing the community closer together for a common goal – ending hunger.