The School Garden Project was part of the Novalis Institute's educational commitment, and was part of the 'Whole School Development " program, from the 1990s until 2007. SOFIA supported the work over seven years, between 1999-2005.

The project included at most about 30 schools with about 1,000 children in each school. The schools are located in the poorest areas in the Overberg district, and a team of horticultural educators from the region traveled around and visited them every month. Teachers and students learned to build and manage horticultural crops, and in between visits managed their plantations themselves.

The school’s curriculum, which includes biology, mathematics and other subjects is inspired from horticulture practical reality, which gives students a living and practical pedagogy. As children learn to grow, parents and others are also inspired to build vegetable gardens around their homes in the townships. It is an important contribution to reducing malnutrition in one of the poorest districts with an 80% unemployment rate.