West Country farmers forge link with Africa

West Country farmers have hosted a delegation of Ugandan farmers and thousands of schoolchildren to help forge links on global food and farming issues.

The visits were the first of a three-year initiative launched by the charity Send a Cow. Grow It Global aims to get more than 10,000 children on to farms across the UK to teach them about sustainable development, food security and climate change.

British farmers met their Ugandan counterparts, who demonstrated African gardening methods that are transforming the lives of poor families in developing countries.

“Grow it Global farm visits offer a fun, practical way for children to find out about big issues like poverty, climate change and food security,” said Send a Cow’s education officer John Cleverley. “But the farmers are learning an awful lot from each other as well.”

The charity will also supply teaching resources, including bag garden starter kits, in which children can grow their own vegetables, and an African Gardens Competition.

The project is backed by the Department for International Development.