Supplementary fresh foods produce for a school feeding scheme

The Midlands Meander Education Project (MMEP) vision is to help Midlands’ schools nurture capable, confident, curious children who are sensitive to environmental issues, who have the resilience to cope with a changing world and are able to contribute positively to their communities.

OVERVIEW

South Africa is largely deemed a “food secure” nation, with the capacity to produce and import enough food to meet the basic nutritional requirements of its population. Yet 30% of the population do not have constant access to sufficient safe and nutritious food for a healthy diet.

The Midlands Meander Education Project (MMEP) will provide training in permaculture and related ecology topics and will monitor an organic vegetable garden in a farm school in Karkloof outside Howick in KwaZulu Natal. The three educators and 65 learners at Yarrow School in Karkloof will benefit from a steady supply of high quality food, as well as improving their knowledge of the environment.

Since 2004 MMEP has provided curriculum support in 20 rural and peri-urban schools on the Midlands Meander Tourist Route. Their focus is on regular, ongoing educator support through co-teaching in order to support the UNESCO Goal of Education for Sustainable Development. MMEP fieldworkers bring specialist knowledge, enthusiasm and a new dimension to learning, which they believe has a positive impact on the development of the 3000 learners participating in the programme.

WHAT WE LIKE ABOUT THIS PROJECT

• The project aims at reducing hunger and malnutrition at school level, which is an essential requirement for any child’s physical, psychological and educational development.
• The training is based on the principle of “co-teaching”, whereby teachers gain practical skills on food gardening and the environment, and are provided with a model of how to integrate this knowledge into the school curriculum.
• The food gardening training is based on environmentally-friendly organic principles.
• The selected target school has clearly shown its interest and care for environmental issues by registering with the WESSA/WWF EcoSchools programme for 2010.

EXPECTED LIFE CHANGE

An investment of R 56, 250 will enable:

• 3 educators to learn the theory and practice of organic vegetable farming necessary to run a successful vegetable garden as well as to integrate environmental principles into the school curriculum;
• 65 children will benefit from an improved daily nutritional intake as well as better learning on ecology and vegetable farming.

The estimated direct life change is R827.20 per person.

NEED

In South Africa, an estimated 1.5 million children suffer from malnutrition, 14 million people are vulnerable to food insecurity, and 43% of households suffer from food poverty. Appropriate nutrition is particularly important for the large HIV-positive population; the lack of a sufficient, sustained supply of nutritious food contributes to the progression of AIDS-related illnesses, and undermines adherence and response to antiretroviral therapy. At school level, children who are hungry cannot concentrate or perform to their potential.

Simultaneously, sustainable agricultural practices are needed to protect already scarce water resources, reverse land degradation and ensure biodiversity.

STRATEGY

MMEP encourages the use of permaculture principles in the cultivation of school food gardens, which provides a means for learners to see ecology in action and motivates teachers and learners to develop a more holistic view of and respect for nature. Through working in the gardens, a better understanding is fostered on topics such as food and health, energy recycling, natural relationships, team work and planning, habitats, ecosystems, environmental ethics, natural elements and resource usage.

MMEP requires a good level of commitment from the school community prior to engaging in a focused intervention. For instance, the schools are required to provide all of the necessary capital equipment, while MMEP provides the skills-training to ensure the proper use of that equipment.

MMEP’s ultimate strategy aims at ensuring the sustainability and yields of the gardens. They encourage the planting of traditional food crops; promote the innovative use of available resources; and strive to reduce schools’ reliance on outside assistance.

ACTION PLAN

Preparation

• As part of the ongoing support provided to the school, MMEP will begin providing lessons that deal specifically with ecology, water and plants.
• A compost heap will be prepared.
• Initial planning of the garden will take place.

Implementation

• Four one-day workshops will be conducted for educators on the principles of permaculture, compost making, plant propagation and companion planting. Workshops will be conducted on Saturday mornings at a local organic farm.
• In-class “co-teaching” lessons will be lead by an experienced facilitator on topics such as food gardening, nutrition, healthy living, ecology, life cycle of plants, water and weather. The school will be visited three days per month.
• The garden will be visited and supervised monthly by a local organic farmer.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Midlands Meander Education Project will visit the school on a regular basis, which will enable them to monitor improvements in the gardens. In addition, the organisation will monitor the quantity and value of vegetables added to the school feeding scheme as a result of the garden produce.

Tests will be applied prior to and at the end of the project in order to assess the learning of both teachers and learners. As part of the Eco-Schools programme, the school will submit an Eco-School portfolio at the end of the year, which will detail the various environmental activities implemented at the school, as well as the integration of environmental education into the curriculum.

ORGANISATION ASSESSMENT

MMEP is a highly innovative and committed organisation, which is addressing a clear need for better environmental education in under-resourced, rural schools. Their model has been successfully implemented in various local schools and their support is actively sought by school principles. The team holds multiple years of collective experience in the sector and is connected to relevant peer organisations for the purpose of shared learning.

Two major issues however, could potentially threaten the capacity of the organisation to fulfil its mission in the short-term. The first is the lack of a strategic fundraising plan based on programme targets, and the second is the heavy reliance on one individual for direction. The organisation conducts limited strategic and financial planning and is heavily dependent on the availability of additional funding for project expansion.

RISK PROFILE

Key Strengths

• Concept: The need for an efficient food garden was identified and communicated directly by the school management, which ensures school commitment and ownership. In addition, MMEP translates vegetable farming into a broader understanding of ecology, self-sustainability and caring for the environment.
• Design: This project is consistent with MMEP past programmes that have yielded the expected outcomes. The provision of environmentally-friendly, resource-efficient permaculture training to resource-poor food gardeners enhances the efficacy of the project. Quality mentoring is provided by a local organic farmer, whose expertise will be instrumental for the success of the garden.
• Capability: The project team has excellent qualifications and significant and wide experience in implementing food garden and environmental projects at under-resourced schools.
• Control: Given the basic design and scope of this project, MMEP has sufficient internal controls and financial oversight in place to ensure project transparency and accountability.
• Sustainability: The two previous school food gardens established with the support of MMEP are now self-sustaining and are complementing the school feeding scheme with vegetables all through the year.

Key Risks - Low

• Concept: Food production programmes take time to yield sufficient food requiring the long-term commitment and diligence of the school. This risk is somewhat mitigated by the great interest in food gardening shown by the school, which was proved by their Eco-School certification for the past four years.
• Design: The organisation mostly relies on qualitative project evaluation, with scarce tracking and measuring of change. For the purpose of this project, anecdotal evidence will be complemented with tools developed ad hoc for tracking and measuring outcomes.
• Control: Being a small-scale environmental education initiative part of a bigger organisation, MMEP lacks formal and regular controls and reporting systems.
• Sustainability: The project lasting impact is dependent on the motivation and capacity of the school’s community to keep applying their training and expanding their food production beyond subsistence and possibly to their own households.
• External: The school’s teacher compliment has been reduced to 3 teachers for all 7 grades. Multi-grade teaching is a challenge involving a heavy workload which means the educators are likely to be quite stretched.