Yesterday the symbolic opening of the first school garden located at Jamaica College signalled the official launch of the National School Garden Programme.

The initiative, one of the efforts from the Ministry of Agriculture, is being implemented and managed by its youth training arm, the Jamaica 4-H Clubs in schools islandwide.

It has as its goal to implement or resuscitate approximately 1,000 school gardens over a three-year period. In year one alone, it is expected that some 300 gardens will be established.

The 4-H Clubs will work with the Ministry of Education through the schools to ensure that the gardens integrate adaptable technologies with a view of stimulating interest among students. The project will also forge critical links with school canteens so that they provide fresh food and vegetables for their respective populations as well as for sustainability.

School Garden Coordinator Clinton Brown explained that, to date, 322 schools were registered in the project, and that school garden officers had already been dispatched to service schools in the parishes. Thirty-six have already received inputs in the form of poultry.