In Kenya’s Nyandarua County, a school gardening initiative is teaching pupils how to grow more than vegetables. By learning to produce and save seed from traditional African vegetables (TAVs) such as amaranth, Ethiopian kale, African nightshade and spider plant, they are helping revive skills that have gradually disappeared from many farming communities.
Over the years, these locally adapted, nutritious crops have become increasingly difficult to access in Nyandarua. The county’s cool climate, which slows germination and delays crop maturity, has left farmers reliant on costly external seed suppliers, often travelling to larger towns or sourcing seed from other regions. As local seed production declined, many traditional vegetables disappeared from farmers’ fields, along with the knowledge needed to grow and save them.
The challenge reflects wider changes in agriculture in the region. Hybrid varieties of maize and other crops have increased yields, but seeds saved from hybrids do not reliably produce the same high-yielding, disease-resistant plants the following season, so farmers usually buy fresh seed each year. By contrast, many TAVs are open-pollinated. If properly managed, their seeds can be saved, shared and replanted while maintaining the crop’s characteristics, making local seed production both practical and sustainable.
Recognising this opportunity, the Taiwan-Africa Vegetable Initiative (TAVI), led by WorldVeg, introduced a school gardening initiative in Nyandarua focusing on TAVs. The work is inspiring pupils and teachers alike to become custodians of indigenous vegetable seeds.
Through hands-on learning, pupils and teachers are now discovering the complete journey of a seed – from planting to harvesting, processing, testing, and storage. They are also learning the differences between hybrid and open-pollinated crops and why conserving locally-adapted, indigenous types matters for food security and climate resilience.
During the most recent growing season, pupils cultivated amaranth, Ethiopian kale, African nightshade, spider plant and other TAVs. For African nightshade – a leafy green prized for its vitamins and minerals – they selected healthy plants with desirable traits – such as vigorous growth, healthy leaves and high yields – harvested seeds, cleaned and dried them, and stored them in airtight glass containers after checking to make sure they would germinate.
Their efforts paid off. Germination tests recorded seed viability of over 90 percent, confirming the effectiveness of the pupils’ seed-saving techniques.
Pupils now have their own seed banks, providing a supply of planting material for their school gardens and even their own family farms. What surprised many was discovering that seeds they harvested themselves could be saved and replanted season after season.
“I thought seeds were manufactured but now that I have learned about seed saving I know we can get seeds from our own backyards,” noted one pupil.
The excitement has extended beyond the classroom. As pupils share their new knowledge at home, families are expected to adopt seed-saving practices.
More importantly, the initiative is helping pass traditional seed-saving knowledge to a new generation. As pupils share what they have learned with their families, that knowledge is beginning to extend beyond the classroom.
TAVI is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Taiwan. Its work connects to the WorldVeg Action Areas on Vegetable Biodiversity, Healthy Diets and in the WorldVeg Global Strategy (2026-2033).
