Service Learning in Belize: ANRI Seedling House
Andrea Love, Tandie Bailey, Jessica House, Douglas Wolf
Capstone for Minor in Sustainability
Department of Agriculture, Food and Life Sciences
Department of Agriculture, Food and Life Sciences
ANRI
The New Seedling House
Sustainability
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The Agriculture Natural Resource Institute (ANRI) is a secondary
education institution specifically focused around agricultural
education. It is located just outside Dangriga, Belize.
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Managed System:
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This system concentrates on the life cycle assessment of raw
materials to finished products.
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Nine students from the University of Arkansas with various backgrounds worked together to plan, design, and build the new seedling
house for ANRI.
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The location of the seedling house was determined by ANRI staff, which would be located behind their gardens and greenhouse.
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The school rests on 240 acres, in the midst of citrus fields and
jungle and is about a thirty-minute drive from Dangriga down a
bumpy, country road. They raise pigs, chickens, rabbits, and an
assortment of vegetable crops, including okra, sweet peppers,
hot peppers, tomatoes, and beans, all on just 30 acres of
production.
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A functioning seedling house is important to ANRI because they
use much of what they grow for school lunch They also send
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The house will enhance the plant production lifecycle. This is
obtained by allowing to seedlings to be grown in an
environment independent of pests and extreme weather. With
an enhanced chance of survival, the reproduction is possible for
many years, providing long term self sufficiency.
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The netting used on the house was also UV and pest resistant
which will increase the health of the seedlings as well as
eliminating negative externalities caused by the use of chemical
pesticides.
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Four treated lumber posts were placed at the corners of the structure to ensure stability while additional posts and support beams were
placed in strategic places to keep the structure sound.
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PVC pipe was used to build the concave-shaped roof, which would support the netting that covered the seedling house. The structure was
fitted with the netting from roof to floor and secured in a manner so that it could be removed before severe weather, such as hurricanes.
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Gravel was placed inside the structure to level the floor and also atop of the netting on the ground to keep it secure from the wind.
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A double door was constructed for further protection against insect infiltration.
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Four tables were constructed to hold the seedlings off the ground. Each table holds ten seedling trays, totaling forty available trays for
plant production. The original seedling structure only supported eleven trays.
The Old Seedling House
use much of what they grow for school lunch. They also send
some of the vegetables home with their students.
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Built Systems:
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involves the design and construction of buildings, including related
infrastructure, in connection with the use of natural resources and
environmental health.
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The materials used were locally available, relevant goods.
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The structure was designed to maximize seedling protection in
several ways. For example, double door entrance and treated
netting without the use of chemical pesticides.
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The floor plan design maximizes usable space in the structure.
Results
Completed table for the seedling
house
Brady Long finishing up the
seedling house
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It took a week to complete the seedling house structure. It’s finished dimensions were fourteen feet wide by twenty-four feet long by eight feet high.
They will be able to hold forty seedling trays compared to the eleven from the previous seedling table use from 2008.
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The house was constructed in a way that the netting and the
seedling trays could be removed and kept from damage in
severe weather conditions, thus preserving the usability of the
structure for many years to come.
First day of work at ANRI constructing
the support posts.
The Original Seedling House at ANRI
Reflections
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In no other study abroad program are you as a student able to
learn through service or asked to look a global issue in the face
and have the opportunity to solve it. Students are given
responsibility and asked to step up as leaders.
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Sustainability is difficult to fully achieve. Getting everybody to
agree on something takes constant communication and the ability
Since 2008, the students had been using a temporary structure
made of rough lumber supports and a thatched roof. Because there
were no walls, their small tray of seedlings were covered loosely in
netting, held up by an unsteady piece of PVC pipe. This seedling
table was insufficient for the school’s needs in several ways:
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The table was small and only held a limited number of seedlings.
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The netting was not attached tightly to the structure so the
seedlings were still vulnerable to pests.
Acknowledgements
Sustainability
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to compromise; however, the end results far outweigh the
obstacles and complications.
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Dr. Jennie Popp advised the project.
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Mr Derick Clare the principal of ANRI requested the seedling
The Ministry of Agriculture in Belize provided the basic design for the
seedling house. It was our job to identify cost effective materials to
build the structure and to create seedling boxes that optimized
production of seedlings in the structure.
Completed seedling house being inspected
by ANRI staff
Inside the house with the completed
seedling tables
Completed house with all participating UA
students and ANRI 3
rd
form class
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Social Systems:
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involves the social behaviors, interactions, and dynamics in relationship to environmental sustainability.
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Most Dangriga farmers purchase seedlings from the government run Central Farm. Seedlings are costly, varieties are limited and sometimes
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Mr. Derick Clare, the principal of ANRI requested the seedling
house and worked diligently with the UA to see the project through.
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Mrs. Francelia Linarez, the Vice Principal helped the UA students
with any issue they had and was incredibly helpful throughout the
entire project.
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Jeff Lieberman and Hannah Huntley, the University of Arkansas’
Peacework Village Initiative representatives, arranged for the
communication between ANRI and the agriculture team.
The Proposed Seedling House from the Ministry of Agriculture
Most Dangriga farmers purchase seedlings from the government run Central Farm. Seedlings are costly, varieties are limited and sometimes
unavailable when needed.
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The seedling structure at ANRI directly serves students and faculty and also has the potential to benefit the surrounding community as well if
ANRI chose to have a seedling market.
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The seedling structure is an appropriate, reliable space for sustainable agriculture learning to occur. Having such an experience in school could
help young graduates of ANRI better manage their own farms, thus
leading to better production, and possible social mobility.
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There is a community investment across the board, which leads us to believe that the seedling structure will continue to be useful to ANRI and
empower the local community for many years to come.