KASTOM Garden Association (KGA) has been commended for assisting communities and schools replant their food gardens after the April flooding in Honiara and Guadalcanal.
This was expressed when officers of KGA visited some of the high schools and training centres east of Honiara yesterday.
Some of the schools and trainings have begun harvesting their crops, while others are in the process of doing so.
Schools assisted are Saint Joseph Tenaru, Saint Martin RTC, and Betikama Adventist College east of Honiara, and Saint Isidoro Care Centre in west Guadalcanal.
KGA also assisted nearly 200 households with the Lunga and Burns Creek area with planting materials.
During a brief t visit to school farms at Saint Martin and Saint Joseph Tenaru, agriculture heads thanked KGA for coming to their help.
Miriam Daota, head of Agriculture department of Saint Martin said: “We appreciate what Kastom Garden did for us.
“We do not expect them to give us these seedlings but the y did, deliver to us. Now we harvested them and our students were serving them in the kitchen.”
Collin Kokwasu of Saint Joseph the floods destroyed their farms.
“You can see from here these are the remaining sediment soil carried by the flash flood that damaged our school farm,” Mr Kokwasu said.
“But in the rehabilitation process, Kastom Garden stepped in and assisted us with seedlings. A new start for our farms, especially planting of cabbage for the school kitchen”.
KGA manager Clement Hadusaia said they see the importance of growing healthy vegetables to feed the students.
“Schools need healthy foods for their students and they need to grow more vegetables,” Mr Hadusaia said.
KGA has been working with local farmers, communities and schools on the rehabilitation process after the April flash floods.
By CHARLEY PIRINGI
