The DA-led Drakenstein municipality launched its rural school vegetable garden programme which aims to create early awareness of agriculture and the environment amongst learners.
The first vegetable garden was launched at the Groenberg Primary School in Wellington and after its success, various other rural schools across the municipal area joined the programme. At the end of 2019, eight schools in the municipality formed part of the programme.
The municipality supplies the schools with the basic tools and infrastructure required to set up the gardens and at times workers from the municipality’s Community Works Programme assist with the setup of the gardens.
The municipality will soon be launching a competition to crown the best new rural school vegetable garden. Mayor Conrad Poole said of the programme that he hopes young children will learn to fall in love with horticulture, appreciate their natural environment and learn entrepreneurial skills.