Agroecological Gardens in Schools in Argentina

We continue to break down barriers with our educational projects, trying to reach the communities that need support the most in various areas. This time, we have brought Kokue to the multilevel boarding school No. 70 in Las Arquitas, a high mountain entity in Tucumán that can be reached from the town of Raco, in the north of the province, on an 8-hour horseback journey.

This is a multilevel institution in Tucumán, accessible from the town of Raco in an 8-hour horseback journey. They are promoting a school garden there that we want to enhance with the support of our app and board game.

In the institution, which has no access to telephone lines or internet connection, the team of teachers and students live together for 15 days each month to advance in the educational cycle. This year, the school worked on creating a school garden for food production, thanks to the efforts of one of the teachers who got in touch with us. We provided them with a donation of the Kokue board game, which will allow them to review the basic principles of agroecology and learn how to associate and rotate species in their crops.

Additionally, the teaching team in charge of the project will receive training on the use of the Kokue application (which works offline), to access information on species, care, and pest control primarily.

The development of a community must be accompanied by training and empowerment. This process is being carried out in the Province of Tucumán, thanks to the support of committed individual donors who are dedicated to improving the quality of life for those who need it most.

At the beginning of this year 2023, we were able to deliver working tools for school gardens so that they have the necessary equipment to manage and monitor their gardens. Currently, we are in the process of creating training spaces for teachers, students, and the families of these students so that we can provide them with knowledge about the principles of agroecology, enabling them to start their gardens, improve their productivity, and thus enhance their food sovereignty.

In 2 schools in the southeast of Tucumán, we collaborated with the principals and teachers to provide training on:

• Preparation of gardens. Basic concepts and prior knowledge.
• Strategic location of the gardens.
• Seedling production as a family activity.
• Identification of irrigation issues in the area.
• Design of water utilization strategies for the benefit of the garden, recycling the school's water.
• Installation of irrigation systems.
• Biopreparations. Composting. Pest and disease control. Recognition of pest and beneficial insects in the region.

The school garden has been supported from the beginning, with students doing all the necessary work to start producing their own food. Today, we can see the achievements! The school has its own supply of vegetables to cook for its students daily.

Our next step will be to promote greater participation of families in these training spaces. When the parents of the students join, they can replicate everything they have learned at home! Knowledge is transferred, and the impact multiplies!

Kokue Game

In addition, we rely on the Kokue board game, a complementary tool that allows children and adolescents to approach the principles of agroecology, learning in a playful and didactic way how to set up their garden and take care of it. Students can play and have fun while learning!

ACDI continues to add activities that empower educational communities, supporting the learning processes so that schools can incorporate knowledge that allows them to sustain their gardens, diversify their crops, and improve the provisions of the school cafeteria through the self-production of food.