By Kamal Ahmed, GNA
Somanya (E/R), Oct. 26, GNA – The Abrewankor M/A Basic School in the Yilo Krobo Municipality has won the University of Environment and Sustainable Development’s (UESD) 2026 Community Development Challenge with 85 points.
The school received a tricycle, two cutlasses, two shovels, two certificates and a bag of organic fertiliser.
The annual competition encourages schoolchildren to identify community problems and develop practical solutions through organic school gardening.
This year’s challenge involved 30 Basic Schools in the Eastern Region, of which 28 reached the final stage of the competition.
The competition was coordinated by the Community Engagement and Projects Innovations Unit under the Office of the Vice-Chancellor.
The competition was on the theme: “Promoting Food Security and Climate-Smart Agriculture through Sustainable School-Based Organic Gardening in Ghana.”
Speaking at the event, Professor Eric Nyarko-Sampson, the UESD Vice-Chancellor (VC) and chairman of the programme, said the initiative aimed to promote environmental awareness and sustainable farming among young people.
“As young people, when they start at this point, they will grow with it, and when it happens that way, the environment will be more secured than what we are having now,” he said.
He said the programme sought to promote organic farming, protect the environment and safeguard livelihoods.
The VC thanked education officials, headteachers, teachers and pupils for supporting the initiative. He said visits to participating schools showed that pupils could successfully practise organic farming.
At Abrewankor, he said he had seen a maize plant with a particularly large cob, demonstrating the school’s potential to achieve good yields through organic farming.
He urged pupils to share their knowledge with farming parents, including by showing that crops could be grown without synthetic herbicides and other chemical inputs.
He also raised concerns about public anxiety over vegetable safety and stressed the need for farming practices that protect the environment and support safer food production.
Professor Nyarko-Sampson said UESD was ready to provide participating schools with information, ideas and technical guidance on sustainable agriculture.
Mr Menemadey Teye, a teacher and project coordinator at Abrewankor, told the Ghana News Agency that the school encouraged pupils to take an active role in the challenge to help them understand organic farming and the risks of inappropriate chemical use.
He said the school carefully prepared the land, controlled weeds and maintained the garden before it was assessed by the technical team.
“We cleared the farm very well and ensured that everything was in place. When the officers came, they found out that our farm surpassed that of everyone, which is why we emerged victorious,” he said.
Mr Teye said pupils regularly measured planting distances, maintained the garden and monitored the crops to ensure proper growth.
Mr Hayford Atippoe, the Yilo Krobo District Coordinator for the school gardening competition, said he had initially doubted whether the initiative would succeed because many farmers believed synthetic pesticides and other chemical inputs were necessary for good yields.
He said the pupils’ achievement showed that organic farming was possible and encouraged them to seek further knowledge and technical support from UESD.
Participating schools received selected crops to cultivate over three to six months. Experts monitored and assessed the gardens from land preparation to harvesting.
The assessment covered land preparation and farm layout, soil fertility, crop quality and health, organic farming, weed and pest control, disease management, creativity, innovation and teamwork.
Other participating schools included the Koforidua M/A Basic School, Korm M/A Basic School, Akuse Presby JHS, Densuano M/A Basic School, Oterkpolu M/A Basic School, Akpamu M/A School, Adjikpo M/A School and Nuaso St Clement R/C Primary and Junior High School.
Abrewankor also won awards for farm cleanliness and maintenance, and teamwork and participation. Other awards recognised achievements in soil fertility management, innovation, record-keeping, organic farming, crop health, pest management and farm layout.
The challenge forms part of UESD’s efforts to promote environmental awareness, sustainable agriculture and food security among schoolchildren while equipping them with practical skills to address community challenges.
GNA
Edited by D.I. Laary/Benjamin Mensah
Reported by Kamal Ahmed
Reporter’s email address: [email protected]