Most parts of Zambia are feeling the devastating impact of climate change, which threaten the food security and economic growth of over 1.6 million smallholder farmers who must survive on less than 2 hectares of land to support their families There is limited funding and support for them from the outside, so they must learn to adapt and to create new opportunities for sustainability. In Zambia, Humana People to People works with over 40,000 families to improve farming through Farmers’ Clubs.
Volunteers from Richmond Vale Academy working with the Momena Farmers Club contributed in different ways during their 6-month training experience, sharing their passion and skills to expand sustainable and income generating activities.
One of the initiatives was to support the bee keeping project, where farmers cultivate bees and harvest the honey for its many nutrients as well as for a source of new income. The volunteers visited the farmers and collected information of the status of the bee keeping, to understand more about their success, challenges and what the next steps for each farmer to take to expand the bee keeping enterprise.
Due to changing weather patterns less rain is falling in the area where the Farmers’ Club are situated, and as the dependency on open fire cooking and clearing land, these fires sometimes get out of hand. The volunteers focused on informing the communities about the danger of open fire, and how to contain and control it.
Tree planting has many benefits, and when working with food security in a region scarce of fruit, it makes a lot of sense to promote the growing of fruit trees. Aligned with traditionally grown fruit, the volunteers established a nursery and started to grow avocado- and mango trees which will be ready to plant when the rainy season starts.
These are a few of the many activities that the RVA volunteers engaged in during their 6 months of practical training and experience in Zambia, with the satisfaction of seeing the results of their work in the communities, and their own personal growth as they learn how to make an impact on the world through good teamwork and effective interventions.
