Lessons from Zambia
Jessica Dreamtime and fellow participants at the Conservation Farming workshop in Zambia
Food Gardens facilitator for the Midlands Meander Education Project, Jessica Dreamtime, recently travelled to Zambia with Paul Duncan and Chris Zondi from Dovehouse Organic Farm, to learn more about Conservation Farming at Kasisi Training Centre and Organic Farm. Delegates from Lesotho, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania and South Africa attended the workshop organised by Martin Bertram of PELUM (Participatory Ecological Land Use Management).
Delegates were warned that “This is an intensive course, not for office workers” and worked really hard, starting in the cool morning and ending close to sun-set. Sebastian Scott, the facilitator, used a very effective method of instruction – beginning with an introduction to the topic, followed by time out in the field to teach and practice what had been learnt. Everyone got a chance to ask questions, to teach a group and experience every practical before returning to class to reflect.
The aim of this course was to build a pool of Conservation Farming Trainers who will be able to go out and confidently train small scale farmers in Conservation Farming, after actively practicing it. Most of the participants are already working with small scale farmers and brought their own ideas to share. Topics covered included principles of sustainable agriculture, conservation farming methods, ploughing with animals, zero tillage methods, nitrogen fixing, basin digging, planting, timing and spacing of crops, soil health, composting, green manure, manure teas, agro-forestry and lots more.
A particularly interesting day came when everyone visited Moses Mulenga on his small scale farm, where he produces five times the national average of maize per hectare, with fewer expensive inputs. Paul commented: “It was incredible to see his success and we were all inspired by his humble enthusiasm.”
Everyone had an opportunity to share what they do back home and Jessica screened The Midlands Rainbow Show on the work of the MMAEP, which made a big impact. One delegate commented “You can really see and feel the love in your project, I nearly cried.” Another evening, women prepared samples of delicious Zambian specialties for the foreign guests and represented the host country’s culture in an impressive way. Everyone left with heads bursting with new ideas, a chaka hoe, nitrogen fixing seeds, manuals and the belief that they could make a real difference back home by adapting food growing practices to mitigate some of the effects of Climate Change and ensuring food security in their communities.
Jessica: “I am so grateful for the opportunity to attend this most useful course. The experience I have gained will enable me to improve my lessons straight away, better support schools who want to expand their fields and produce extra crops to sell, as well as assist large schools which have many people to feed. I’m motivated to do some research in my own garden (to adapt methods to our climate and soils) and then go out and share what I’ve learnt. Hopefully, I will also be able to help neighbouring small scale farmers to increase their yield through practicing Conservation Farming methods. This information will always come in handy, I will be able to use it where ever I go for the rest of my life.”
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