Blue Skies Foundation and KIC sign partnership to transfer governance of School Farm Competition

KIC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Blue Skies Foundation (BSF) to transfer the governance and implementation of the School Farm Competition to KIC. The ceremony took place at KIC Innovation Hub in Accra on 6th February, 2024 in the presence of Mr. Benjamin Gyan-Kesse, Executive Director for KIC, Mrs. Jane Lutterodt, General Manager, Blues Skies Company Ltd., Mr. Alistair Djimatey, Head of Blue Skies Foundation and Corporate Affairs Manager for Blue Skies Ltd, as well as other representatives of Blue Skies Company Ltd . The MOU outlines the agreement for the transition of the governance and management of the Blue Skies School Farm Competition to KIC. Under the agreement, KIC will regularly share top-line impact data of the School Farm project with Blue Skies to facilitate ongoing evaluation of the project’s performance.

The School Farm Competition introduces students in junior and senior high schools to agriculture innovation by focusing on horticulture. The students learn from concepts such as nursing seedlings, transplanting, cultivation beds and the right application use of approved chemicals and fertilizer, as well as the use of PPEs. Through the practical experience, the program seeks to create a change in mindset about seeing agriculture as a form of punishment to seeing it as an economic viable activity. In 2022, KIC partnered with Blue Skies Foundation with funding support from the Mastercard Foundation to help achieve the objectives of the School Farm Competition. The KIC-BSF partnership helped reach a total of 198 junior high and senior high schools in 2022 with over 5,500 students being exposed to opportunities in the agricultural value chain and changing their mindset to agriculture entrepreneurship. As of December 2023, more than 18,000 students had been trained under the program, under the partnership arrangements.

Speaking about the new governance structure, Benjamin Gyan-Kesse said: “With the governance and management of the school farm competition program moving to KIC, we are confident that we will be able to continue with the growth trajectory of the program, as we look forward to encouraging more schools to participate in the competition.”

On his part, Alistair Djimatey, Head of Blue Skies Foundation and Corporate Affairs Manager for Blue Skies Company Ltd., affirmed that Blue Skies will maintain an advisory role in the competition’s governance, assisting and advising on its development and growth. Through the program, participating schools have supported their students to see the benefits of farming. It has also enabled schools to support their canteen.

Some of the yields have also been sold externally and the proceeds used to support development in the schools. Some past winners of the School Farm Awards include Adoe D/A Junior High School (Best School Farm, JHS Category, 2023), Ghana Senior High School, Tamale (Best School Farm, SHS Category, 2023), Kwahu Tafo Senior High School (Best School Farm, SHS Category 2022), Peki Senior High Technical School (Most Committed School, 2023) and Ecole Ronsard (Most Innovative School) among others.