Sustainability of Uzima Aid’s feeding of needy children in the slums (informal settlements) and in arid areas has necessitated invention of relevant models of agriculture in schools. School gardening and greenhouse agriculture have proved to be a sustainable solution to food insecurity in schools. A steady supply of nutritious food from gardens and greenhouses that are managed by students and schools’ authorities is key to fighting malnutrition and hunger in children. Well maintained Schools gardens and greenhouses not only guarantee children a balanced meal but also act as knowledge incubators. Uzima Aid believes that the solution to ending food insecurity and poverty in Africa is in agricultural innovation and school going children remain the best target for such innovation as they tend to the gardens and greenhouses thus gaining experiential knowledge which they transfer to the communities they live in.
In partnership with the Israeli embassy Uzima Aid recently launched greenhouse agriculture in The Star Of Hope Primary School in the sprawling Lunga Lunga slum in Nairobi. The vegetable grown in the greenhouse in now supplementing the monotonous meal of maize and beans for the 1000 plus needy students of this school. With the assistance of partners Uzima Aid is planning to replicate this in other slum schools. Statistics show that the malnutrition rates of children who live in the slums and in many poor urban areas is steadily on the increase and this can be addressed through such initiatives.
Uzima Aid has a demonstration grafted mango farm in Busia County that is used for knowledge dissemination to the Schools in Busia County and surrounding communities. The bigger picture of Uzima Aid is to have a demonstration farm in all the 47 Counties in Kenya complete with a model garden, greenhouse farm, poultry farm and animal husbandry farm.