ABSTRACT
School gardens that supply or complement school feeding programmes have been identified as a best practice for mobilizing biodiversity and improving dietary diversity in schoolchildren by the Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition project. In Kenya, school gardens are especially important to provide nutritious meals to growing children and adolescents, who may otherwise go hungry. School gardening, or school farming as often referred to in a Kenyan context, has been practiced as part of education in Kenya for many years, especially in rural areas where it goes back to colonial times. Kenya is home to more than 200 African leafy vegetables (ALVs) that could be helpful in strengthening the nutritional status of the population. In Busia county in western Kenya, the Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition project is changing this by giving children opportunities to acquire agricultural skills with attention to the cultivation of nutrient-rich ALVs and their contribution to improved nutrition amongst rural children.
