Haller and Harvest Food Forest: Training Community Experts to Build Resilient Futures
Haller’s work is built on partnerships. Sharing knowledge, strengthening local expertise, and empowering communities to grow sustainably. This year, we’re proud to be working with Harvest Food Forest, an initiative that is transforming school gardens in Kenya and Uganda into hubs of learning, enterprise, and resilience.
Harvest Food Forest collaborates with children, parents, and teachers to cultivate thriving organic gardens in schools, where food security and education are integrated. Their approach is rooted in a simple but powerful belief: that teaching children how to grow food is also teaching them how to build a future. It is a model that aligns closely with Haller’s values — particularly the idea that local people should be the experts leading change in their own communities.
In early 2026, Harvest Food Forest will send a team of gardeners from Amboseli (Kenya) and Rubona (Uganda) to attend a 10–12-day, hands-on training program at Haller’s model farm and training centre. These gardeners are already seeing success, but they are eager to deepen their skills and expand their impact. Haller’s role is to provide the technical expertise that will allow them to scale safely, sustainably, and with confidence.
The training focuses on building practical, transferable skills, including farm planning, composting, natural pest control, pest management, fruit tree care, mulching, crop rotation, soil health, climate-smart agriculture, and water conservation. It also includes training on small enterprise — helping families understand not just how to grow crops but how to turn them into sustainable livelihoods. This “train-the-trainers” model means the gardeners will return home ready to teach others, multiplying the benefits across schools and communities.
For Harvest Food Forest, this work is already changing lives. In landscapes where human–wildlife conflict is common — from elephants and baboons in Kenya to mountain gorillas in Uganda — families often turn to destructive practices to survive. Organic school gardens offer a hopeful alternative: a source of healthy food, income, and environmental stewardship. Children learn entrepreneurial skills through selling produce at local markets, proudly sharing the motto “Yum Yum in your Tum Tum” as they celebrate the taste and quality of chemical-free crops.
In just six months, their gardens have produced over 400 kg of food, generating income for school supplies and attracting interest from local farmers who want to learn organic methods themselves. Teachers report noticeable improvements in their own health after switching away from chemically grown produce. Communities now come directly to the schools to buy fruits and vegetables, with children leading the weighing, recording, and sales.
Haller’s training will help secure this momentum. By equipping community gardeners with deeper technical knowledge, we are supporting a grassroots movement that is spreading rapidly, one that strengthens food security, protects ecosystems, and empowers the next generation.
