Build School Gardens for 1800 Youth in Burundi

In the Burundian mountains, near the headwaters of the Nile River, 4 elementary schools are producing garden vegetables through the Burundi 4-H School Gardens Program.  Washington State University has partnered with the schools to provide financial and technical support to get the gardening program established.  The goal is to educate the students with hands on learning, so they and their families can produce their own food thus, reducing hunger in the region.

At present, teachers in Burundi are completing their second school year of utilizing the 4-H Curriculum (translated into Kirundi) in their 4^th grade classrooms (approximately 400 students).  The curriculum can be easily used across multiple content areas (math, science, reading, social studies).  In the classroom students study and discuss plant growth and soil preparation.  Then they are introduced to their classroom lab in the form of garden plots.  Generally, the students are divided into “teams” that care for specific areas of the garden plot.  Those students are responsible for tracking the results from soil preparation and seed germination to harvest.     

At the end of the first growing season, it became obvious that more needed to be done to the soil for better plant growth and success.  With some help, the Agriculturalist in Burundi was put in touch with a Scientist at the University in Bujumbura.  That Scientist was able to produce a report that could be sent to Washington State University Professors who were able to provide the correct information about what types of nutrients could be added to the soil for better success in the future.

One of the challenges in Burundi is the weather.  Historically there have been two definite rainy seasons in the country.  However, with changes in the climate those rainy seasons are no longer dependable.  Therefore, it was a challenge to keep the school gardens irrigated through the first growing season. Through an intentional fund raising campaign, enough funds were raised to be able to install rain catchment systems at two of the four schools in Burundi.  Those rain catchment systems were installed in December 2016.  With dependable water for the gardens vegetables will be able to complete their growing season through harvest in March – May, 2017.  Thanks to our generous donors for making this happen.