The document was prepared by FNDE, the WFP Center of Excellence against Hunger in Brazil, FAO, and ABC; the publication is available in this post.
Brasília, Brazil, July 9, 2024 – Demonstrating how school gardens can contribute to the improvement of school feeding programmes across different continents and identifying best practices in management, design, and implementation. These are the main objectives of the document ‘Best Practices in School Gardens and School Feeding: Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean’.
The publication was jointly produced by the National Fund for Educational Development (FNDE), the World Food Programme (WFP) Center of Excellence against Hunger in Brazil, the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), and the Brazil-FAO International Cooperation Programme on School Feeding, led by FNDE, ABC and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The document presents successful experiences and innovations from Armenia, Benin, Brazil, El Salvador and Saint Lucia. The publication highlights that school gardens play a fundamental role in school feeding programmes, as they are strategic tools for food and nutritional education (FNE), and contribute to the formation of healthy and sustainable eating habits for students and the entire school community. In addition to being FNE tools, the food products grown in the gardens can complement school feeding programmes by providing the cultivated foods.
The publication underscores that pedagogical school gardens have proven to be a teaching methodology and knowledge-building tool that introduces students to the basic principles of food, nutrition, and the environment, while enriching the school curriculum through the integration of playful and collective activities.
It also emphasizes that, although they are used in various contexts in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia, school gardens still require more institutional support from the governments.
“In many cases, there is little institutionalization and resource flow for projects involving the development of school gardens. However, there are successful examples worldwide of countries that have achieved the integration and coordination of gardens and orchards with school feeding programmes,” the publication states.
In this sense, the document contributes to the generation of knowledge and the exchange of successful experiences on the subject by shedding light on actions carried out in different contexts, disseminating best practices in the implementation of gardens that can serve as a reference for public managers in other countries.
The joint drafting strategy also showed that these United Nations agencies, FAO and WFP, work towards a common goal in school feeding at the global level and share principles and ideals that generate, in addition to the possibility of sharing experiences among different countries, synergies and the necessary alliances needed to face the various challenges presented on this topic.
The publication is available in different languages:
English: https://redraes.org/en/good-practices-in-school-gardens-and-school-meals_africa-asia-and-latin-america-and-the-caribbean/
Portuguese: https://redraes.org/pt-br/boas-praticas-em-hortas-escolares-e-alimentacao-escolar_africa-asia-e-america-latina-e-caribe/
Spanish: https://redraes.org/buenas-practicas-en-huertos-escolares-y-alimentacion-escolar_africa-asia-y-america-latina-y-el-caribe/
