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WFP and SIFI launch School Garden Competition in Armenia

Armenia
This April for Armenian schools began with the announcement of one of the most environment friendly and useful contests under the School Feeding Programme - "The Best School Mini Garden".

The main idea of ​​the project is to show the value of the School Feeding Programme, the importance of the school garden as an effective platform for improving the quality of kid's nutrition. The winner will receive a grant of US $ 3,000 to create or develop their own school garden.

The competition is dedicated to the main participants of the School Feeding Programme - children. It is for them that gardens and orchards are created on the school territory, greenhouses are installed. Children get a lot of benefits from such initiatives: a variety of school menus due to fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs right from the garden, knowledge of where these products come from, how to grow them.

Under the guidance of teachers, schoolchildren sow seeds, take care of plants. In alliance with friends, interest in working in the garden doubles. Seeing the children's enthusiasm, parents will be willing to contribute more time and resources and become more
involved in improving school feeding.

During the class hours, children are taught about the benefits of vegetables and fruits, they have fun by growing their food with classmates. At the same time, they put efforts into the task which makes them gradually change their food behaviour and start consuming more fruits and vegetables.

Studies have also proved that school gardens are good for the environment. Firstly, gardening is the oldest and most organic way of producing food. In the case of school gardens, food production is organized using natural resources to provide the children with
safe crops. Secondly, during gardening classes, children learn about the earth, the trees and the plants, of ways of taking care of them, they learn about the surroundings, the animals and insects. This creates a sense of responsibility towards the environment.

The competition will be held in two stages:

Stage 1 - the schools are expected to submit the application form by May 1.
Stage 2 - the schools are expected to submit the project package by October 1.
By November 1, the Selection committee will evaluate the received project packages and announce winners.

For the details of the competition please follow the LINK