In an era when the health of people and our planet demands immediate attention, the EduPlant School Gardening and Nutrition Programme offers a fresh perspective on education that intertwines learning with sustainability. After 29 years (est. 1994) and the creation of thousands of school food gardens across the country, the EduPlant Programme, in partnership with Tiger Brands, has transformed the way we educate our future generations and nurtured a deep-rooted commitment to environmental stewardship.
EduPlant focuses on schools, learners, and their surrounding communities. It develops school-linked food security clusters in under-resourced communities and townships.
The programme utilises permaculture at its core but does far more than grow food and improve nutrition. It promotes sustainable practices, environmental ethics, and whole systems thinking. It creates strong social and food security community networks.
EduPlant School gardens have gained prominence in addressing the urgent need for increased food security, environmental protection, the potential for secure livelihoods and the promotion of healthy diets.
The EduPlant programme is cross curricular, which ensures that multiple benefits accrue to the teachers, communities and learners. The structured programme is aligned with the CAPS curriculum making it easier for schools to instil valuable skills, knowledge, attitudes and values on earth care, access to healthy, fresh nutritious fruit and vegetables and lifestyle choices. The learners are provided with opportunities to explore career pathing in the agricultural industry. LSEN schools have also benefitted from the programme and have learners pursuing vocational training in agriculture. The programme has been endorsed by the South African Council of Educators for 15 Continuous Professional, Training and Development (CPTD) points. EduPlant has contributed significantly to the upskilling of teachers.
EduPlant has built human capacity. We have witnessed EduPlant’s impact extends beyond the learners and school. External monitoring and evaluation found that over 60% of learners and community members involved in the workshops replicate the activities learned in the household. This often means that it is the learners who take control of their food sovereignty and encourage their parents to start growing their own food.