The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in partnership with the Ministries of Agriculture and Education and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) initiated a programme to support the establishment and operation of vegetable gardens at six primary schools across the island.
The participating primary schools with a total of 900 students are New Grounds Primary School, Argyle Primary School, Fair Hall Primary School, Cane End Government, Spring Village Methodist School, and the Paget Farm Government School.
The initiative is being implemented as part of the broader and innovative vision of the Resilient School Feeding Programme sub-project of the Mexico-CARICOM-FAO, “Cooperation for Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience in the Caribbean”.
According to a release from the Ministry of Agriculture the main objective is to support the National School Feeding Programme of the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and in particular, to support the establishment or rehabilitation of school gardens as a teaching tool for food and nutrition education.
As part of the programme of activities, cohorts of 20-60 students, from grades three to four, and the assigned teachers from each school, will receive training on how to establish and care for vegetable gardens, beginning with land preparation and including all other steps, from planting, through harvesting and consumption.
