NAB announces school garden competition

The Namibian Agronomic Board (NAB) is calling on schools that have active gardens to participate in a competition to select the best school garden of the year.

According to the NAB, schools can apply by downloading an application form from their website and submitting it before or on 25 August.

The winner will be awarded at the National Agronomy and Horticulture Awards and will walk away with a certificate and a prize valued at N$30 000 to be used to maintain and improve the garden.

The award ceremony will take place on 14 September in the Kavango East Region.

To be eligible for the competition, the school must offer agriculture as a subject and have a dedicated person who takes care of the school garden.

The school must also have a well-maintained and operational garden and plant two or more vegetables or grain crops per growing season.

Both public and private schools are eligible to apply.

“Once the application has been received, the NAB will establish a team of five experts to assess all the qualifying school gardens in the field that meet the eligibility criteria.”



Selection criteria

The schools will be selected on proper record-keeping on garden sales, support for the school feeding programme or soup kitchen and selling of surpluses to the surrounding community and local shops.

Selection will also depend on how schools demonstrate how the garden offers practical teaching and learning for agriculture subjects, collaborates with other school gardens in terms of knowledge multiplication and mobilises resources to expand the garden.

Other selection criteria will be how it acts as an example to other school gardens in the circuit or region and whether it has a clear sustainability plan.

According to the NAB, the winner will be notified within seven days of the completion of the field assessments.