The schools have developed a home development to generate sustainable income at the students’ homes.
Students are trained in Farm Enterprise Management. In particular they learn:
- Mind-set change: moving from subsistence farming to farming as business to ultimately commercial farming;
- Systems thinking: understanding the relationship between food security, health and sustainable income;
- Value chain management, including the importance of seed selection, land preparation, timely weeding, soil and pest management, post-harvest management, marketing and value addition;
- Family cooperation and community organizing as key ingredients for sustainable rural livelihood development;
- Practical skills in sustainable agricultural practices;
- Practical skills in growing all types of cash crop; tree farming and agro forestry, poultry keeping, bee keeping, piggery; food processing and construction of storage facilities (see picture).
Each class has a garden. By the time the students finish Senior 4:
- They are familiar with all the major farm practices
- Their homes have sufficient income to cater for basic needs, good health and education of siblings.
- Students transfer their newly gained knowledge through training parents in workshops organised by the school and back home projects during the school holidays