The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights Anton Refalo launched the second edition of the Let’s Talk Farming programme, while presenting the prizes to those schools that won in the first edition of the program.
This initiative involved 47 primary schools in our country, both state, private and even church schools, with the aim of increasing awareness from a young age about the importance of agriculture and the role played by -farmers and villagers in our society.
Minister Anton Refalo mentioned how through this initiative another electoral promise is being fulfilled. “Through this program we want to continue to increase the knowledge among children about the importance of agriculture in food production, the value of the local product, the responsible consumption of food and the – the role of farmers and villagers in society. While we give the opportunity to as many students as possible in the primary schools and further even the secondary ones participate themselves in fruit and vegetable growing activities.”
This educational program involved a number of activities, including discussions, talks with farmers and villagers themselves, awareness of the importance of water conservation, informative sessions in schools by the Agribusiness Institute within MCAST , the involvement of parents by involving their children when they go to buy food, or take them on a visit to the Farmers’ Market as well as to expose them with walks through the rural landscapes and the distribution of packages with seeds of number of fruits and vegetables to be grown in the school.
It was also announced that the Ministry of Agriculture will be allocating funds for a subsidy to the participating schools in order to organize educational trips to the partners of the program. During this evening, the schools that met the criteria established in this program were also rewarded. More than 20 schools out of 47 were awarded the gold prize, which means that they organized activities from each category, 8 in total, while they had original activities and participation throughout the year even with parental commitment.
