An efficient way of addressing food shortages consists of developing out-of-season crops: year-round vegetable and fruit crops, instead of only during the traditional season that starts during the rain season and lasts only four months.
To contribute to the necessary change in mentalities, teachers and students are encouraged to experiment those out-of-season crops at school. The question of access to water is closely linked to that development, as some irrigation is necessary to water the gardens during the dry season.
Since 2009 a school garden has been supported by the decentralised Cesson Dankassari cooperation and the pupils of Beausoleil primary school in Cesson-Sévigné.
Until 2013, it was located in Dankassari the community’s chief town.
Since 2013, the school garden has been located in Dogontapki, a large village. Vegetable plants (cabbage, eggplants, tomatoes… ) are grown, and the pupils manure. The vegetables grown there are eaten by the pupils or sold at the market to provide the school with funds (for school supplies). It is associated with a moringa nursery.
A second school garden will start at the end of 2014 in a village of the Matankari rural commune, thanks to the support of the Total Foundation. It is also associated with a moringa nursery.
Since 2020, the goal has been to create and perpetuate one school garden per year in a different village in Dankassari, including regular follow-up. Such school gardens have been created in Kamrey and Kolmey, and another is planned in Nakigaza.
In 2023, the gardens at the two schools in Kamrey and Kolmey have been monitored, and new gardens have been established in Nakigaza and Korongomey. The garden in Kolmey was particularly successful, and a celebration was held at harvest time.
In December 2022, AECIN decided to create a school garden in Bakin Tapki (region of Kiéché) with an area of 625 m². The goal is to establish a vegetable garden within a school to provide students with a diverse diet while also serving an educational purpose. Vegetable growing is important because it offers a source of a diversified diet throughout the year, especially outside of harvest periods.
This garden was initially funded through a donation campaign that raised €2,000. The first harvests in June 2023 were satisfactory and shared among the families.
Thanks to AECIN’s resources, a new gardening and seeding campaign began in the fall of 2023.