​Despite the many curious children who appeared to get a closer look, not one of them can go to school – it’s just too far, and even if they did manage to make the trek over to the other side of the mountain and all the way to Ambohimahamasina, their families cannot afford the less than £5 annual school fee, let alone the materials.  Speaking to these families we learnt that they exist on an almost entirely rice and cassava leaf diet – not affording them much of the nutrition of which they need.  With this gnawing hunger and lack of nutrition, how could these children concentrate in school, even if they managed to fulfil all the other factors?  It’s for this reason that we have a project with Kew Gardens to try and introduce native yams – both protecting the species and offering this community another food source, hopefully building up to a surplus that will afford them an income at the local market.  Whilst this project is still in early stages, training on the best methods and an example garden have gone extremely well and will continue from strength to strength.

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