Seeds of health are planted in school gardens

Ten percent of students in Kenyan primary schools eat no meals except school lunches. Since most schools cannot supply these lunches affordably, hunger continues to afflict about one third of Kenyan children. But when the pupils shown below walk home from Senator Barak Obama primary school west of Nairobi, they are no longer hungry.

                                                                                                                      Thomas Mukoya/Reuters
That's because Kenya's new School Garden Initiative has established 11 school gardens where students grown the food they eat for lunch. While working in the gardens, children learn fine arts, math, science, history, language and nutrition. These better-fed children also perform well on national exams. According to Global Envision, a blog published by Mercy Corps, growing their own food in school gardens also gives students confidence and strength, and encourages self-reliance.