ALF honours winning schools in 'Farm Your Country' programme

Al Faisal Without Borders Foundation (ALF) held a ceremony to honour the schools that won in the “Farm Your Country” programme for the 2024-25 academic year.

The event was organised in partnership with the Ministry of Municipality – represented by the Public Parks Department – and in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.

The ceremony was attended by ALF chairman HE Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim al-Thani, Ministry of Municipality assistant undersecretary (Shared Services Affairs) Hamad Khalifa al-Khalifa, ALF general manager Abdullatif Ali al-Yafei, Public Parks Department events and communications officer Sheikh Suhaim bin Abdullah al-Thani, as well as a number of educational and executive leaders from both ministries.

This year marks the tenth consecutive edition of the programme, which involved 500 students from various educational levels across 46 public and private schools.

Over the years, the programme has positively impacted more than 3,500 students, equipping them with knowledge about producing healthy food through teaching them how to grow vegetables and ornamental plants.

As part of the programme, the ALF awards a special Excellence Prize to the most outstanding school of the agricultural season.

This award includes the implementation of a fully integrated botanical garden within the school – a key goal of the foundation to promote green sustainability and leave a lasting impact on students, the future leaders.

On May 4, a sustainable botanical garden was officially inaugurated at Ruqayya Preparatory School for Girls, the winner of the previous season’s Excellence Prize.

The garden represents the school’s successful implementation of agricultural sustainability, featuring a greenhouse and plants used for educational and awareness activities – offering a living example of how education can be integrated with environmental practices.

At the event, Jassim Bin Hamad Secondary School for Boys was announced as the winner of the Excellence Prize for the current academic season.

HE Sheikh Faisal stated that the ALF's programmes are always designed to equip students across all groups with essential scientific, engineering, and technical skills that support both their academic and future careers.

These aims were clearly reflected in the high level of competition seen between the participating schools throughout the agricultural season, which ran from November 2024 to March 2025.

He congratulated the winners and wished all participants success in future editions of the ALF’s programmes.

HE Sheikh Faisal also extended his thanks to the Ministry of Municipality and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education for their fruitful co-operation and ongoing support of the “Farm Your Country” programme and other initiatives by the Foundation over the years.

Al-Yafei emphasised the ALF’s commitment to sustainability and raising students’ awareness of the importance of agricultural environments and the self-sufficiency they can bring to individuals and society.

Sheikh Suhaim highlighted the partnership between the entities and emphasised that the partnership supports sustainability and raises students’ awareness of the importance of agriculture by providing hands-on training in step-by-step farming practices.