Agroecological Gardens in Schools in Argentina

The development of a community must be accompanied by training and empowerment. This process is being carried out in the Province of Tucumán, thanks to the support of committed individual donors who are dedicated to improving the quality of life for those who need it most.

At the beginning of this year 2023, we were able to deliver working tools for school gardens so that they have the necessary equipment to manage and monitor their gardens. Currently, we are in the process of creating training spaces for teachers, students, and the families of these students so that we can provide them with knowledge about the principles of agroecology, enabling them to start their gardens, improve their productivity, and thus enhance their food sovereignty.

In 2 schools in the southeast of Tucumán, we collaborated with the principals and teachers to provide training on:

• Preparation of gardens. Basic concepts and prior knowledge.
• Strategic location of the gardens.
• Seedling production as a family activity.
• Identification of irrigation issues in the area.
• Design of water utilization strategies for the benefit of the garden, recycling the school's water.
• Installation of irrigation systems.
• Biopreparations. Composting. Pest and disease control. Recognition of pest and beneficial insects in the region.

The school garden has been supported from the beginning, with students doing all the necessary work to start producing their own food. Today, we can see the achievements! The school has its own supply of vegetables to cook for its students daily.

Our next step will be to promote greater participation of families in these training spaces. When the parents of the students join, they can replicate everything they have learned at home! Knowledge is transferred, and the impact multiplies!

Kokue Game

In addition, we rely on the Kokue board game, a complementary tool that allows children and adolescents to approach the principles of agroecology, learning in a playful and didactic way how to set up their garden and take care of it. Students can play and have fun while learning!

ACDI continues to add activities that empower educational communities, supporting the learning processes so that schools can incorporate knowledge that allows them to sustain their gardens, diversify their crops, and improve the provisions of the school cafeteria through the self-production of food.

As part of the "Our School Nourishes Us" project, we delivered tools to work in these spaces in rural institutions in Atahona, La Madrid, Paraje Los Perez, and Palancho. The initiative is promoted by ACDI to promote agroecological production in school institutions, promoting school gardens as a comprehensive learning space in schools that contributes to the generation of habits and capacities to overcome the food crisis, promoting the use of Tic's.

In this framework of activities, 4 school gardens in the southeast of Tucumán were strengthened thanks to the delivery of tools and materials: Atahona Middle School (Simoca Department); Alcira del Blanco Special School in La Madrid (Graneros Department); Primary School No. 184 Leopoldo Perez in Puesto Los Perez, in the town of Taco Ralo and School No. 191 of Palancho, (both in Graneros Department).

The project also has the support of territorial promoters from ACDI in each of these school establishments, who work in the strengthening and promotion of formative and community processes related to agroecological production. In this regard, Pamela Dorao, one of the territorial promoters in La Madrid, said: "Working together with the special school's school garden was a beautiful experience. The teachers were very committed, and the tools that were given to them motivated them even more to continue teaching the children that they can produce their own food at home. Also, this year, each student received a computer, and from this, we can work better with the kokue application."

Promotion and learning

Through the intervention of "Our School Nourishes Us", during of the 2022 school year, various educational institutions participated in ACDI's agroecological garden training spaces, promoting the participation of institutional leaders. In that context, the use of the kokue app in classrooms was also promoted as a self-management tool for gardens from which children can learn interactively about how to produce their own food.