About an hour’s drive from Machakos town, 63 kilometers southeast of Nairobi along a dusty road that cuts through rolling hills, sits Kivai Comprehensive School in eastern Kenya. At the entrance, flower beds don’t welcome visitors instead visitors are welcomed by neat rows of spinach, sukuma wiki, managu, and onions.
The once bare compound now looks green and alive, thanks to an organic farming project that has turned the school into a place of learning and nourishment. On this particular day, a team of journalists from across the country arrived to witness how this small rural school in an arid land has turned farming into a lifeline for learning and survival.
These crops have transformed what was once a barren compound with a handful number of learners into a space of nourishment and learning. For Eliud Mutungi, the school’s headteacher, the gardens symbolize hope for the learners.
“The vegetables are not just for food, they also give the children hope,” he says. “When learners walk in and see them, they know they won’t go hungry. Even if they left home without food, they are assured of a meal here.”
The Transformation
The school’s transformation began in August 2023, when SCOPE Kenya (Schools and Colleges Permaculture Program) trained school leaders on permaculture, an agricultural system that relies on organic methods instead of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.
Kivai was among the first schools selected to pioneer the project. Teachers, parents, and pupils worked side by side to establish the gardens, planting climate-resilient crops such as cassava, sweet potatoes, bananas, and indigenous vegetables.
The results were immediate. “Before, the school looked deserted, and learners had very low self-esteem,” recalls Mr. Mutungi. “But once the gardens came, morale rose, classrooms felt alive, and even exam performance improved.”
By the end of 2023, Kivai topped Makueni Sub-County in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams an achievement the headteacher credits partly to better nutrition and a renewed sense of pride among pupils.
Why Permaculture?
According to John Macharia, National Coordinator at SCOPE Kenya, the program was born out of necessity. “Most schools had no feeding programs, and where food was provided, it was usually just maize and beans,” he explains. “This diet left children malnourished, absenteeism was high, and academic performance suffered.”
SCOPE introduced a model that connects farming to learning. Schools receive training on permaculture designs such as sack gardens, mulching, and water harvesting, allowing children to learn by doing.
“We wanted children to link what they study in class with practical life skills, while also restoring dignity to their school environments,” says Macharia. Today, SCOPE works with 140 schools across 15 counties, training teachers and pupils to grow food and conserve the environment.
Boosting Nutrition and Enrollment
When the program started, Kivai had just 64 pupils. Today, the number has more than doubled to 141 learners. Parents, many of whom struggle to provide regular meals at home, now prefer the school because their children are assured of food.
The feeding program has also diversified diets. Learners now eat vegetables, cassava, beans, and rabbit meat. Hibiscus tea has even replaced plain porridge for breakfast. Teachers report that children are healthier, more energetic, and more attentive in class.
“Some children used to come to school hungry and could not concentrate,” says Mr. Mutungi. “Now, they are alert and eager to learn. We are seeing a huge difference.”
The initiative has also breathed life into Kenya’s Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), which emphasizes practical learning. Pupils at Kivai prepare seedbeds, manage gardens, and learn soil conservation techniques.
“They also integrate farming into other subjects: in home science, they cook and serve food from the garden; in business studies, they sell produce to raise money for seedlings; in math, they measure plots and calculate costs; and in science, they observe plant growth and biological processes,” explains Mr. Mutungi.
Benjamin Kivilu, another teacher at Kivai School, adds that the SCOPE project has blended seamlessly with the CBC system. “In agriculture lessons, whether it’s animal husbandry or crop care, we bring learners here to practice. During planting season, they don’t just read about it they get their hands dirty,” he says.
With drought affecting much of the region, the school has introduced drought-resistant crops. Kivilu notes that the initiative has gone beyond academics, instilling discipline and responsibility in the pupils. “After playing, the children return to the gardens to continue their work. It’s teaching them to be accountable,” he says.
The program is also set to revive the school’s 4K Club, thanks to the availability of land and sack gardens that allow crops to thrive even in harsh conditions. “This way, learners are developing holistically. They will grow up knowing the value of farming and its role in building resilience,” Kivilu adds.
A Community Ripple Effect
Rebecca Mbevi, an ECD teacher at Kivai School, says the project has transformed both the school and the wider community. “This initiative has brought so many changes to our school. Parents were impressed, and many have gone ahead to implement it in their homes. When you visit households around here, you will find families practicing what we started at school,” she explains.
She adds that the shift to organic farming has reduced costs while improving health. “We realized it is better to depend on crops that don’t require chemicals or pesticides. Now we save a lot because we no longer buy vegetables but we grow everything ourselves. It has even put some money in people’s pockets,” Mbevi says.
Children, too, are part of the change. “Every child has a small project at home, even with limited water. We recycle what we use. Parents are also busy, if one visits homesteads, you won’t find anyone idle at home,” she notes.
As a grandmother, Mbevi has experienced the impact firsthand. “When I get home, my grandchildren remind me, ‘We were told to eat vegetables because they are healthy.’ We have been educated, and our children’s nutrition has greatly improved,” she adds with a smile.
The Challenge of Water
Still, the program faces one persistent challenge: water scarcity. Makueni is a semi-arid county where rain is unreliable, and sustaining the gardens during dry months is expensive.
“One 10,000-litre tank of water costs KES 3,500, which many parents cannot afford,” says Mr. Mutungi. “We rely on rivers far away or donations from well-wishers.”
“Our learners have also stepped in by bringing water from home using their parents’ donkeys,” explains Mr. Mutungi. “When the drought was at its worst, the pupils asked their parents to let them use the donkeys to fetch water. One day, we saw them arriving at school with donkeys carrying jerrycans. Each donkey brings about four 20-litre jerrycans from a nearby river, which is quite a distance from here.”
“We now have around five donkeys that supplement the water we use, notes Mutungi. “Thanks to this effort, we are able to water the gardens at least three times a week.”
SCOPE has also introduced techniques like banana circles and mulching to conserve soil moisture, but more is needed. “If the school had a borehole, this program could run throughout the year,” he adds.
Despite the hurdles, the project has transformed Kivai into a model of resilience. A once dull and uninspiring school now buzzes with life. Children smile more, classrooms feel lighter, and the community takes pride in the compound’s green makeover.
“This program has given us dignity and hope,” says Mr. Mutungi. “It has changed our school, our children, and even our community.”
According to Macharia schools already have land, teachers, and learners. “With the right support, every school in Kenya could feed its children, improve health, and teach the next generation vital agricultural skills.”
