Fund a Sustainable School Vegetable Garden

Dear Supporters,

The overall objective is to implement a kitchen garden at Navunisea Primary school which will be run by the mother’s group. The aim of the “School Canteen Project” is to ensure that the students receive an nutritional meal at lunch time, plus to educate and capacity train the mothers club who are responsible for all lunch time meals on school days on nurturing seeds, planting sustainably, fertilizing, and maintaining the vegetable plot.

GVI aligns with local government “National Food and Nutrition Policy for Schools” that promote a healthier environment in schools, to ensure a healthier future for the children of Fiji.  There is an urgent need to promote and encourage good nutrition in schools. Good nutrition empowers people to reach their full potential and is a key foundation for the sustainable development of human health. In Fiji’s rural communities, people consume enough quantities of starchy staple foods like potatoes, cassava, taro, rice but insufficient quantities of protein, oils, dairy, fruits and vegetables that make up a balanced diet.

GVI has started to implement the first stage of this project:To create a kitchen garden in Navunisea Primary School. GVI as recruited an agriculture intern, Nanise who has been responsible for set up  of the garden , the first step has been to start planting seedlings in the nursery, which is located in the nearby village of Silana, while the seeds are staring to grow the next step was to get the area designated by the school to be the garden ready for planting .The area has been dug over and compost added to the soil, the second job was to construct a shade house which will be used to grow vegetables that need to be protected from the strong sunrays i.e. tomatoes peppers. This has now been completed and is waiting for the seedlings to move in once they are strong enough to be planted into the ground.

The kitchen garden project aligns with Sustainable Development Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages.  There is a relationship between good nutrition and education. The kitchen garden will provide for attractive, tasty, nutritious meals that complement the students learning.

With Gratitude

GVI Dawasamu