Voly First Immo — school vegetable gardens in public primary schools, Antananarivo

In Antananarivo, unused ground at public primary schools is turned into vegetable gardens that feed the school canteen while teaching farming to children and parents. Run by the Axian Foundation and First IMMO together with the Urban Municipality of Antananarivo, the programme had completed 27 sites since 2021. At the five schools inaugurated together in June 2023, 660.5 m² of prepared ground had already yielded 312.5 kg of vegetables from three of them.

Pupils, parents, teachers and residents of social centres are trained in basic agriculture, in marketing fresh produce, and in eco-responsible practices. The gardens both supply the school canteens and serve as training grounds for urban farming.

A public-private arrangement: the Axian Foundation and the company First IMMO fund and equip the gardens under an agreement with the Urban Municipality of Antananarivo, on the grounds of public primary schools (EPP) and other sites, including the Akany Iarivo Mivoy centre and the juvenile wing of Antanimora prison. The harvest goes to school canteens, shortening the supply chain and improving nutrition.

The design targets malnutrition and school drop-out at once: better canteen meals are themselves a reason to keep attending. Because it uses ground the schools already hold, no new land has to be acquired to add growing area inside the city. The stated goal is access to quality food for vulnerable urban households.

This entry is compiled from the public sources, official sites and research below.

• OfficialInauguration combinée de cinq potagers Voly First Immo au sein des écoles primaires publiques à Antananarivo (Fondation AXIAN 公式) ↗fondation-axian.org
• OfficialInauguration des potagers scolaires dans 5 EPP de la région Analamanga, dans le cadre du programme Voly First Immo (Fondation AXIAN 公式) ↗fondation-axian.org