Children rescued from the streets of Kampala and resettled in schools across Karamoja are benefiting from improved nutrition through a school gardening programme supported by the Sasakawa Africa Association.
The initiative is enabling schools in the sub-region to grow vegetables and mushrooms to supplement learners’ meals while equipping them with practical agricultural skills that could benefit their families and communities.
One of the beneficiary institutions is Nakiceleet Primary School in Lukopo Sub-county, Bokora County, Napak District, which received 132 children rescued from the streets of Kampala by Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and resettled through Napak District Local Government in 2025.
Many of the children reportedly arrived at the school suffering from malnutrition. However, the school says their feeding arrangements have improved, with produce from its gardens helping to diversify their meals.
Speaking to journalists at the school, head teacher Adyei Josephine Omara said mushrooms harvested from the school gardens had been incorporated into meals prepared for the resettled children.
“In the last three months, we have not been selling the mushrooms we have been harvesting from our gardens. We have been using them to feed the resettled children, the majority of whom were malnourished by the time they arrived here. In 2025, we received a total of 132 children from KCCA,” Omara said.
She said the improved feeding arrangements had contributed to better health among the children, adding that they had embraced school gardening and continued to perform well in class.
“On behalf of the school administration, we are really grateful to Sasakawa because it has supported us in addressing malnutrition within our school and community,” she said.
Beyond improving nutrition, the gardening programme is equipping learners with practical agricultural skills, including raising seedlings in nursery beds, transplanting, mulching, weeding and harvesting.
Omara said the skills would benefit the children beyond school by helping their families improve household nutrition and potentially creating opportunities for income generation in the future.
Omara also commended the Sasakawa Africa Association for renovating the school’s borehole and installing a motorised water system to support irrigation.
She explained that the system incorporates reverse osmosis technology to improve water quality, enabling the school to irrigate its crops despite the area's dry conditions.
“Although Karamoja is a desert, through irrigation we are able to grow vegetables throughout the year,” she said.
However, Omara appealed to KCCA to assess schools before assigning children for resettlement, noting that Nakiceleet Primary School continues to face accommodation constraints, particularly in the boys’ dormitory.
She said prior assessments would help authorities establish whether schools have adequate facilities to accommodate additional learners and ensure that children are placed in suitable environments.
Leo Odeke, the school’s agriculture teacher and gardens supervisor, said Nakiceleet Primary School grows mushrooms, tomatoes and cabbages to supplement learners’ meals.
He explained that mushrooms had become a favourite among the children because of their taste, while cabbages and tomatoes were used to improve the variety and nutritional value of the food served.
“The mushroom tastes like meat, and this has made it the children’s favourite sauce. During lunchtime, we serve mushrooms and cabbages mixed with beans, while tomatoes are used as ingredients in the sauce,” Odeke said.
He noted that the school previously relied mainly on posho and beans, with few additional ingredients to improve the quality and variety of meals.
According to Odeke, the gardening project is organised to allow learners to participate in agricultural activities without compromising their classroom studies.
Each garden is managed by a group of 10 learners who tend to the crops at designated times during the school day. Mushroom gardens, for instance, are irrigated early in the morning and at intervals during break time, lunch and games time.
Odeke said the school was committed to sustaining the project and planned to sell any surplus produce to generate income for its continued operation.
“We, as a school, are ready to maintain the project for continuity. In case we produce in excess, we shall be able to sell it because it already has a ready market,” he said.
For some of the resettled children, the programme represents a fresh opportunity to pursue an education after difficult experiences on the streets of Kampala.
Agnes Longok, a 13-year-old Primary Five pupil at Nakiceleet Primary School, recounted how she ended up on the streets after her aunt took her from home in 2023, promising that she had found someone to sponsor her education.
Longok said that after arriving in Kampala, she was initially given a good meal before being directed to Kansanga to beg for money alongside other children.
“When we reached Kampala, it was a Saturday. I was given a delicious meal. The following day, I asked my aunt about the lady who was going to pay my school fees. My aunt told me to be patient because she was going to call her. The next day, she told me to go to Kansanga and start begging with other kids at home,” Longok recounted.
She said life on the streets was difficult because she struggled to raise money, experienced abuse and punishment, and was later knocked down by a motor vehicle while begging.
Longok was subsequently picked up by KCCA alongside other children, taken to Masuliita and later transferred to a school in Napak District.
“I am so glad that KCCA brought me back to school in 2025. Since then, I have learnt a lot about vegetable growing,” she said.
Her experience illustrates the challenges faced by some children living on the streets and the opportunities that resettlement and access to education can provide.
Joseph Pascal Bbemba, deputy country director of the Sasakawa Africa Association, said the school gardening initiative was intended not only to improve nutrition but also to create opportunities for schools to generate income.
He explained that schools could sell surplus produce, pay casual labourers and reinvest part of the proceeds into maintaining and expanding their gardens.
“By doing this at school, parents can also learn something and practise it in their homes,” Bbemba said.
He added that the expansion of industrial activity in Karamoja could create a market for vegetables, particularly if schools were able to maintain production throughout the year.
“Most of us know that so many industries are opening up in Karamoja. Their workers need these vegetables throughout the year, and it is these schools, like Nakiceleet Primary School, which can supply them throughout the year,” he said.
Bbemba explained that the school uses raised beds for tomato cultivation, mulching and drip irrigation to improve crop production.
Water is pumped from a storage tank into drums connected to irrigation lines, allowing it to be distributed to the crops.
He added that Sasakawa planned to introduce solar dryers for mushrooms to improve preservation and reduce post-harvest losses.
The technology would enable schools to dry and store surplus mushrooms for consumption during subsequent school terms, helping to reduce waste when harvesting exceeds immediate needs.
In June 2025, a total of 684 children rescued from the streets of Kampala by KCCA were reportedly reintegrated into schools across Napak District.
According to information provided by the school, all but 19 of the resettled children have remained in school and continued with their studies. The 19 reportedly left their respective schools.
The school gardening initiative supported by the Sasakawa Africa Association is helping participating institutions use agricultural production to improve learners’ diets while equipping children with practical skills that could support their livelihoods beyond the classroom.
The programme also offers schools an opportunity to strengthen food security, reduce reliance on limited meal options and potentially generate income through the sale of surplus produce.