Helen Keller Holds Harvest Fair On School Gardening

FIVE months after the flagoff of the school garden sites in government primary schools and communities in Ikeja Local Council Area of Lagos State, the Harvest Fair has held, where garden produce from nine public primary schools were displayed.

The project, courtesy of Helen Keller International (HKI), Nigeria, in partnership with the Lagos State government and funding from Mondelez International Foundation, is expected to run for a period of three years, from January 2018 to December 2020, with the aim of bringing attention to the importance of food and nutrition, as well as physical fitness to schools and communities.

The fair, which focuses on gardening, has three major objectives: to provide a platform for the exhibition of garden produce from schools involved; to highlight the importance of home/school garden as means of promoting dietary diversity; and to advocate support towards the formation of Young Farmer’s Club in state public primary schools.

At the fair, held at Agidingbi Primary School, Ikeja, the HKI’S Country Director, Philomena Orji said through the project, a school gardening and health club was established to maintain gardens, promote nutrition and fitness activities and ongoing student participation. Orji, who expressed joy after the tour of the harvest exhibition stands of the schools, where crops ranging from cucumber, pumpkin, maize and orange fleshed sweet potato were on display, said the programme is building on HKI’S commitment to help communities thrive and improve the well being of school-age children and their families.

“The Nutrition and Healthy Lifestyle project aims to bring nutrition education, active play and fresh foods to underserved children and their families in Ikeja council area. The project is part of the Mondelez International Foundation’s multi-year $50m commitment to promote healthy lifestyle and address obesity in nine countries, including Nigeria.”

In his remarks, Director, Corporate and Government Affairs, Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Bala Yesufu, said the Mondelez International Foundation, which owns 74.99 per cent of Cadbury Nigeria, is passionate about creating positive impact on people on the planet.

He expressed delight that the event, which is the fruit of the groundbreaking ceremony, held on June 1, 2018, shows that the project is gaining more traction. He noted that the foundation recently added new programmes to the existing ones, in line with its commitment to assist communities and improve health of school-age children and families.

The peak of the fair was presentation by the participating schools on their knowledge on gardening and agriculture in general.