Cultivating Dietary Literacy: A Perspective on School Gardens and Nutritional Knowledge in Malawian Primary Education

Malawi faces a dual burden of malnutrition, yet nutritional education in primary schools often remains theoretical and disconnected from local food contexts. School gardens present a potential pedagogical tool for enhancing dietary literacy. This perspective piece examines the conceptual correlation between implementing a school garden-integrated nutrition curriculum and the development of dietary knowledge among primary school pupils. It aims to articulate a framework for moving beyond didactic instruction towards experiential learning. The argument is developed through a synthesis of pedagogical theory and contextual analysis of the Malawian primary education landscape. It constructs a logical model linking garden-based activities to cognitive and behavioural learning outcomes in nutrition. The analysis proposes that a curriculum embedding practical gardening with lessons on local, nutrient-dense crops can foster a more profound understanding than classroom instruction alone. A central theme is the transformation of the garden from a supplementary activity into a core pedagogical space for interrogating food choices. Integrating school gardens systematically into the national curriculum offers a viable, context-sensitive strategy for cultivating foundational dietary literacy, addressing knowledge gaps that contribute to malnutrition. Curriculum developers should design structured modules that explicitly connect garden tasks with nutritional concepts. Teacher training must equip educators to facilitate this experiential learning. Policymakers should support the provision of basic gardening resources to all primary schools. dietary literacy, school gardens, nutrition education, primary curriculum, experiential learning, Malawi This paper provides a novel conceptual framework for positioning school gardens as central, rather than ancillary, pedagogical tools for achieving dietary literacy within a sub-Saharan African educational context.