Education Uganda Project #34929

Seeds and Support for School Gardens Worldwide

by Seed Programs International

Project Report | Jun 23, 2026
Growing Opportunity & Hope in Mwanza Schools

By Milcah Kigoni | Project Leader

Students with Gardening Supplies

Dear Friend,

Thanks to your generous support, the School Gardens for Food Security and Income Generation (SGFIG) project is improving student well-being and learning environments in Mwanza, Tanzania. Through our partner, the Rotaract Club of CUHAS, more than 500 students now have direct access to nutritious vegetables that supplement school meals and support better concentration in class.

Food insecurity and nutritional deficits make it incredibly difficult for young people to focus and thrive in school. To meet this challenge, the project transformed 1.5 acres of land at each school into a flourishing agricultural classroom, where students learn where food comes from while actively helping fight hunger in their own community.

Impact So Far

Your contributions enabled the successful launch of this initiative across both schools, supporting land preparation, garden establishment, training for students and teachers in sustainable agriculture, and the distribution of seeds and essential inputs. Students are now directly engaged in growing their own food, building practical skills, strengthening their confidence, and developing a deeper understanding of nutrition and sustainability.

What Your Support Made Possible

The project has already reported a successful first harvest, with sweet peppers, Chinese cabbage, carrots, eggplants, collard greens, and amaranth spinach all growing well. Two student garden clubs have been established, training 50 students and 4 teachers in climate-smart farming practices. The gardens are also beginning to generate income, with the first growing cycle producing approximately $50 USD per school from surplus sales—reinvested into the gardens and feeding programs to support long-term sustainability.

This milestone was made possible through a powerful collaborative effort. Students, teachers, and local agricultural experts worked side by side, while generous global partners like you provided the funding, tools, and seeds to empower these young farmers. Together, you have given students skills, nutrition, and a lasting awareness of sustainable agriculture.

Looking ahead in 2026, the team is working to scale the project through greenhouse and vertical farming systems, enabling year-round production and reaching even more students and families. Your continued support can make this plan a reality.

Thank you.

On behalf of everyone we serve in Mwanza, thank you. Your support is helping young people grow more than vegetables—it is growing opportunity, hope, and healthy student communities one garden at a time.

Students Celebrate New Farming Resources

School Garden at Igoma Secondary School, Mwanza.

Young farmers equiped to grow

Teachers Presenting Gardening Tools

Links:

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Feb 27, 2026
School Gardens and Student Learning in Kampala

By Robyn Love | Project Leader

Inter-School Event

This past year, Seed Programs International partnered with the Sustainable Community Initiative for Empowerment (SCINE) to support several school-based initiatives in Kampala, Uganda, designed to strengthen food production, learning opportunities, and student engagement.

Garden Expansion and Redesign

In August and September, existing school gardens at two primary schools were expanded and improved, benefiting more than 800 students. The work began with joint assessments involving the teachers and school agricultural clubs, ensuring that improvements reflected local priorities and needs.

Garden areas were enlarged, drip irrigation systems were installed, soils were enriched with bio-slurry, and protective fencing was constructed. A diverse mix of vegetables, including sukuma wiki, amaranthus, broccoli, eggplants, spinach, and cabbages, was planted to support continuous harvests and nutrition diversity.

Students and teachers participated in training sessions on sustainable gardening practices, strengthening skills in crop management, soil care, and water efficiency. The revitalized gardens were then formally handed over to the school agricultural clubs, supporting student ownership and long-term sustainability.

Inter-School Food Security Event

In November, students and teachers from three primary schools gathered for an Inter-School Debate and Quiz Competition on Food Security. The event encouraged students to explore real-world challenges and solutions through structured discussion and collaborative learning.

Debate topics included the role of modern farming methods and the value of community gardens in improving food security. The afternoon quiz competition further reinforced students’ knowledge of food security and sustainable development concepts.

These activities strengthened critical thinking, communication skills, and students’ understanding of sustainable agriculture, while creating valuable opportunities for peer learning and knowledge exchange. Awards and recognition were also presented to celebrate student participation and achievement.

Thank You for Making This Work Possible

Through this program, students gained practical agricultural experience while teachers strengthened their ability to integrate garden-based learning into the classroom. Student engagement activities reinforced environmental awareness, literacy, and connections to food systems.

Your support continues to create lasting benefits, not only through improved food production and nutrition, but through strengthened skills, collaboration, and confidence. The impact is visible in the gardens, classrooms, and voices of the students themselves.

Thank you for your continued partnership.

Inter-School Collaboration Event

School Garden Improvement Project

School Garden Before

School Garden After

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Oct 30, 2025
Cultivating Creativity with Gardening and Poetry

By Robyn Love | Project Leader

Golden Times Primary School

Seed Programs International (SPI) partnered with Sustainable Community Initiative for Empowerment (SCINE) and Poetry X Hunger to launch Growtry, a initiative that combines school gardening and poetry across eight schools in Kampala, Uganda.

Building on our earlier partnerships that established eight school gardens, this phase of the program encouraged students from each school’s Urban Farmers Club to create poems inspired by their gardens. Through themes of growing food, reducing hunger, and caring for the earth, students reflected on their experiences with agriculture in creative ways. Each school received a small grant to support teachers in organizing the poetry activities and maintaining the gardens as vibrant learning spaces.

Through this program, students gained hands-on agricultural education that promotes food security and improved nutrition. By weaving poetry into their gardening experience, children not only explored their creativity but also deepened their understanding of the importance of farming and community resilience. This approach connected practical skills with artistic expression, helping students strengthen both literacy and their connection to local food systems.

The students all did an incredible job, filling their poems and performances with imagination, heart, and hope. Their recitations were recorded in their school gardens, capturing the connection between their words and the spaces they tend. After careful consideration, first and second place winners were selected and awarded scholastic materials to support their continued academic growth.

Use this link or the link below to view the videos and text of each poem submission, beginning with the first-place and runner-up winners. The remaining poems are listed in no particular order. Be sure to scroll to the end for photos from the student presentation ceremony, where joy and pride were in full bloom!

We believe that seeds can grow more than just food — they can grow opportunity, creativity, and community. Programs like this one in Kampala show how gardening can nourish both the body and the mind, empowering young people to envision a future free from hunger and full of possibility.

Thank you sincerely for supporting this program and being a part of this work! If you have any questions or would like to connect, we would love to hear from you.

Happy Gardening,

Robyn

Award of Scholastic Materials

Links:

Videos and Text of Growetry Poems

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