When Abubakar, a student at Government Science Secondary School Sharada in Kano State, Nigeria, attended the 2025 Nutritious Food Fair 2025 — signature annual event by HarvestPlus and HarvestPlus Solutions—he had never grown his own vegetables. Like many students, he understood the importance of healthy food but had little practical experience producing it.

That changed during the one-day kitchen garden training held at the fair. Through hands-on sessions led by partners including the Centre for Dryland Agriculture, HarvestPlus, HarvestPlus Solutions, and the Propcom+ Project, Abubakar learned how to prepare a small garden, plant seeds, and care for crops as a sustainable source of nutritious food.

Motivated by the training and his participation in the NutriQuiz and NutriKitchen cooking competitions, Abubakar returned home determined to apply what he had learned. With simple tools and guidance from his teachers, he established a small kitchen garden.

A few weeks later, his effort paid off. Abubakar and his classmates proudly harvested their first cucumbers — a milestone that marked more than just fresh produce. For Abubakar, the harvest represented new confidence, practical agricultural skills, and a deeper understanding of how growing food can support healthy diets at home.

“I didn’t know I could grow vegetables myself,” he said. “Now I want to keep expanding my garden so my family can always have fresh vegetables.”

Abubakar is not alone. All 46 students who participated in the competitions at the fair went on to establish their own kitchen gardens, showing how practical learning can quickly translate into real action beyond the classroom. Building on the success of this training, HarvestPlus Solutions aims to scale up these efforts in collaboration with public and private sector partners to ensure access and availability of affordable nutritious foods to communities.

The Nutritious Food Fair has become an important platform for linking nutrition education with hands-on agricultural experience, helping students move from learning about healthy diets to actively producing nutritious foods themselves. For students like Abubakar, the experience is shaping new habits and ambitions — not only improving what their families eat, but inspiring them to become advocates for nutrition and sustainable agriculture in their communities.

As more students begin harvesting from their gardens, small school-based initiatives are helping cultivate a new generation that understands the connection between agriculture, nutrition, and healthier futures.

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