Garden-Based Organic Agriculture for Schools (GOASE)

GOASE is the Garden-Based Organic Agriculture for Schools programme. It seeks to place organic gardens in local schools, both to teach children about maintaining a vegetable garden and to supplement school-feeding programmes daily meals with fresh vegetables which is hope to improve the nutritive value of the meals in the children.

It is hoped that these hands-on activities will foster a deeper appreciation of how the natural world sustains us, and that it will promote the environmental and social well-being of the entire school community.

Objectives

• To create a replicable model of local sustainable livelihood

• To achieve environmental benefits based on organic school gardens.

Status

GOASE is still in the preliminary stage and will immediately be implemented if schools resume for the 2013/14 academic year.

NEW!!

Workshop for Garden Based Organic Agriculture

for School Environment (GOASE)

School Teachers listen to PowerPoint presentation by Peter Anoah

Nine (9) Teachers from the three (3) selected basic schools in Sirigu, piloting the Organic Vegetable Garden were yesterday, the 22nd August 2013 received training on various aspects in gardening during a workshop organized by SEISUD.

The chief trainer for the day was the ACDI/VOCA Consultant (Volunteer) Dr. Chris Bielecki who took participants through the importance of organic gardening, factors in considering the establishment of a school garden, conventional vegetable production verses organic vegetable production, organic control of pest and diseases and many others. Mr. Peter Anoah also handled site selection, seed selection and germination test, nursery management, soil tillage practices, types and construction of double dug beds, sunken beds and Zai Pit Methods.

Participants were taken through practicals at GIOF to feel the hands - on activities. Chris and the Extension Officer for SEISUD Mr. Solomon took participants on compost making, soil pasteurization, seedbed preparation and how to nurse seeds in seed boxes or on seed bed.

Teachers and their heads will meet SEISUD staff early September to budget for garden materials to kick- start the programme.

PRACTICAL TRAINING ON ORGANIC GARDENING WITH IMPLEMENTING SCHOOLS UNDER THE SCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAMME

The GOASE Programme has just started with an intensive practical session with teachers and their students at the Ghana Institute of Organic Farming garden. Participants were taken through the following topics; -

• 1. Site selection and field measurement

  2. Fencing and plotting the garden

  3. lining and pegging of sunken beds

  4. Construction of sunken beds

  5. Application of compost and poultry manure

  6. Soil pasteurization, and

  7. Seed box preparation

Already, the project has procure the fencing materials for schools to begin fencing their gardens to kick start the project.