Food Forest makes Kids are Kings Nursery self-sustainable!

We are very excited that Kids are Kings nursery in Tanzania is now fully self-sustainable! Previously the nursery was not able to cover its running costs, but thanks to investment in sustainable agriculture training and a food forest at the school, the nursery is able to sustain itself.

Kids are Kings Nursery was founded by Malaika Millinga to provide quality education to children living in her community. It provides pre-school education to children to give them the skills and knowledge to be successful in Primary and Secondary School. At Kids are Kings, children are taught in English, to prepare them for sitting exams in English in school.

Many of the parents cannot afford to send their children to nursery, but Malaika wants to ensure that all children, regardless of their parents’ income are able to access good quality education. Families make whatever financial contribution they can, depending on their income, but this previously meant that the nursery was unable to cover its own costs. The garden at the nursery is now providing nutritious food for the children, as well as produce enough excess produce to be sold to cover the nursery’s running costs.

Sustainable agriculture training uses simple, cheap, and environmentally friendly techniques to increase crop yields. The techniques also help farmers to become more resilient to drought, and despite the lack of rain in the region meaning progress has been slow in growing food, there is still enough produce being grown to sustain the nursery.

The nursery school is currently held in an expensive rented building, but there are plans to move it to a new site.  The community are donating land, making bricks and carrying water for construction, and students from the Vocational Training Centre will build the school. Malaika hopes that the nursery can be extended to become a Primary School, so that children can continue to get a good quality education.

There are now 40 children at Kids are Kings nursery, who are will all be prepared for starting Primary School and have the best chance of achieving their dreams and breaking the cycle of poverty.