From our student body to our campus grounds, progress is flourishing at St Jude鈥檚.
Seven acres of our beautiful Usa River campus is currently becoming more fruitful thanks to our farm project.
鈥淲e started this project to produce quality fruit and vegetables for all students,鈥� farm manager Stephen Uswege, who has been helming the operation since its inception about five months ago, said.
鈥淭he goal is to produce enough vegetables for all three St Jude鈥檚 campuses.鈥�
With an irrigated area for vegetables, designated room for rows of fruit trees, two greenhouses (one for seedlings, the other for tomato and capsicum), plenty of fertile soil and a sunny sky, the project is set for success.聽
Secondary students, who will become more involved when it comes time to harvest, have enjoyed valuable lessons about agriculture via the farm (or 鈥榮hamba鈥� in Swahili).
鈥淚 have learned many things from this farm project so far, with one of those being the importance of the greenhouse,鈥� secondary student Cuthbert said.
鈥淭he greenhouse (environment) helps nourish the plants and gives the seedlings a green, healthy colour. It helps control the pests that would (otherwise) destroy the plant and take the nutrients, leaving not very good food for us to eat.鈥�
Agriculture is Tanzania鈥檚 primary industry, as well as being a 鈥楴ational Priority鈥� degree as determined by the Tanzanian Government. It contributes almost 30% of the country鈥檚 GDP, and in 2014 employed 67% of the population*.
Mr Uswege has a background with similar farms and expects our yield to include sukuma wiki (a collared green), cabbage, carrot, onion, chili, watermelon, avocado, mango, cucumber, capsicum, guava, banana, passionfruit and papaya.
The vegetable garden鈥檚 drip irrigation includes polythene tunnels to protect soft vegetables, and fertilizer to balance minerals in the soil.
鈥淭he drip irrigation will help the plants get water throughout the year,鈥� Smith student Beatrice said.
鈥淚t should not be difficult for us to wait until the rains so we can cultivate more crops as we need.鈥�
The finished product of this tremendous, tasty project will soon fill the bellies of students like Beautrice and Cuthbert!
Help us accomplish big, exciting projects like the shamba by donating to our聽Area of Greatest Need.
* www.tanzaniainvest.com/agriculture
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