KUALA LUMPUR: Encouraging Malaysians to go back to basics and appreciate the merits of self-sufficient living has long been a vision of the Dignity for Children Foundation. In late 2021, the NGO acted on its vision by establishing the Dignity Farm Academy.

“There is an acute awareness of the importance of sustainable food production, and the need to instill awareness that education is more than just classroom-based,” said Dignity co-founder Elisha Satvinder.

Located in Bentong, Pahang, the academy aims to build a model of transformative education grounded in community building, natural agriculture, and skills development. Students learn vocational skills such as sustainable farming, and valuable team skills that will help develop their character.

The Dignity Farm Academy aims to address misconceptions towards agriculture by allowing youths to view the sector as a viable and sustainable option. It presently boasts a thriving food forest comprising diverse vegetables and herbs such as spinach, yams, ginger, carrots and pegaga, as well as fruits such as papaya, banana, rambutan and durian.

It also has an expanding poultry farm of 400 ducks and chickens that enables farm-to-plate practice at Dignity’s transformational enterprise, eat X dignity café, located in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur.

Programmes available at the academy include educational farm tours, youth seminars, accelerated character education and vocational development courses, as well as skate camps.

The latter are made possible through Dignity’s collaboration with VANS, which invested in Malaysia’s first granite skatepark at the farm. Skateboarders can utilise the skatepark for a fee on weekends, providing them a safe environment wherein to practise and hone their skills.

Monies earned from farming and educational programmes will be channelled back into the school.