Food Security Zambia Project #51544

Food Security for Hungry Families in Zambia

by African Artists Community Development Project, Inc.

Project Report | Sep 18, 2023
Progress Report from Zambezi Farm

By Marsha Winsryg | Director, AACDP

Thanks to your generous donations, many of Zambezi Farm’s projects are well underway!

Vegetable Projects:

The eggplants and impwa are yielding enough for personal consumption and sales to the local supermarket in Livingstone. But the season has barely started - when the rains arrive, the plants will produce much more, and should continue fruiting for about a year!

Carrot seed has been planted to a large, well irrigated plot. Tomato seedlings still need to size up a bit before being transplanted. Cabbage seedlings are just about ready to put in the field - we planted enough seeds to yield 1800 - 2000 heads of cabbage.

Building Projects:

The unit for dry maize storage has been completed. The new irrigation tank has been built, but still needs plumbing for both the input and the output. The farmers' house needs 2 windows, a door, interior paint and furniture. The bath house needs some plumbing, a door and lighting.

A lot of fencing has been done - the maize and vegetable fields are all protected. We must now fence the side of the farm that borders the road. Eventually we will probably be fencing more and more of the perimeter.

Future Plans:

Our next project will be raising chickens. Sydney (our Zambian manager) proposed a commercial setup, but I am more interested in a smaller, more traditional approach. So we will try two chicken projects - one free range and the other commercial. The commercial side will be a large chicken house built with cement blocks, and the free range will have small grass chicken houses, similar to the ones pictured below. It will be interesting to experience these two styles of farming side by side.

A lot of projects, right? The goal for the farm is sustainability, and a key ingredient is diversity. We hope that establishing a good mix of animal and vegetable crops will soon produce a balance that can weather the difficulties that Nature may deliver.

The five day Little by Little campaign, which starts today, is a great opportunity to stretch a small donation! GlobalGiving will add 50% to all donations up to $50 from Monday, September 18 through Friday, September 22.

Your participation is what has made all our projects possible! Thank you for your support of Zambezi Farm and its farmers.

Links:

AACDP web site

Permalink

Jul 5, 2023
Success and Challenges at Zambezi Farm

By Marsha Winsryg | Director, AACDP

Thanks to your generous donations, Zambezi Farm has transformed. The new house and bath are almost ready for the farmers to be able to use for overnight stays, and the gardens are alive with many new vegetables. Our eggplants and impwa (also called garden egg, a member of the aubergine family) are now flowering and doing very well. In about a month and half we can start harvesting.

The house and bath are plastered, and we are ready to do the finishings on the windows and doors. When that has been completed, we will paint the inside.

Wire for the new fence has been purchased, and poles are now being cut to support it. Hopefully it will be complete in the next couple of weeks. Then the crops will be fully protected from being nibbled by the goats.

We are still having water issues. Our new pump at the original well is able to deliver water to our high fields, but because of the elevation and the long distance, the pressure is very low. We have begun building a tank by the field so that there will be an adequate supply of water close enough to have sufficient pressure to irrigate our future tomatoes and cabbages.

Our goats were recently attacked by tick fever. We had to have them all vaccinated, and hope the disease will be cleared soon. One goat is still seriously ill, and we are doing everything possible to save its life.

So far 4 goats have given birth, a total of six new kids! At this rate, the number of the goats we purchased can double in about half a year. We will then need to extend the goat shelter. Click here for video.

JULY BONUS DAY is WEDNESDAY, JULY 12, from 9am - 11:59pm! It's a great time to have larger donations ($100 and over) matched. Matching funds won't last all day, so please donate as soon after 9:00 am as you can. Click here to see how your donation can grow on July Bonus Day.

We don't expect you to donate to every campaign! All donations, large and small, are so valued! July Bonus Day is aimed at higher donations, but we will also be participating in GlobalGiving's September Little by Little campaign, which gives a greater boost to the smaller dollar amounts. So if you would like to donate $10 - $99, donating during the September campaign will increase your gift more.

None of this would have been possible without you! Thank you for your support of Zambezi Farm and its farmers.

Links:

Permalink

Mar 29, 2023
Zambezi Farm Plans for the Coming Months

By Marsha Winsryg | Director, AACDP

The Zambezi farmers want to thank you for all your support - your donations have enabled us to accomplish so much. Last year we were able to improve the irrigation system, which has really boosted productivity of our staple crops.

We hope you will help us take the next step toward becoming a self-supporting farm.

It's time for GlobalGiving's Little by Little campaign. From April 3 - April 7 GlobalGiving will match donations up to $50 at 50%. This is a great time to make a small donation to help Zambezi Farm grow; the value of your gift increases by half again.

And please tell your friends about the farm. Just think - if you donate just $10 (which will bring an extra $5 from GlobalGiving) and get 3 friends to each donate $10 (which will bring an extra $15 from GlobalGiving) you will have turned your $10 gift into $60 for the AACDP communal farm - six times your investment!

The map of Zambezi Farm below shows projects that are completed in pink, and future projects in green.

Sydney Mwamba, our invaluable manager in Zambia, has organized the first stages of infrastructure. A simple 2 room house has been built so the farmers can stay over for a few days. A bath house has almost been completed - adding the roof, plastering and painting will be done soon, then fixtures can be installed. Irrigation is underway, however the second well which was installed led to much less water than was expected, so it will be used for watering animals. We have upgraded the first well with a more powerful pump, which is capable of moving water the distance to the staple crops fields.

That irrigation provided a good maize crop this season! The fresh corn is now ready for harvest, but most of the crop will be left on the stalks to dry, then stored until it can be ground into mealie meal, the basic ingredient of nshima, the staple food of Zambians.

Our plan for the next few months includes building a shed for storing the dry maize, completing the bath house, and installing lighting for the farmer’s house, and some outdoor lighting for security. Also fields still need to be fenced to prevent theft and damage from animals.

The map also shows some of our dreams for future projects:

Fruit orchard
Tilapia pond
Chicken run

The more diverse future projects we can create, the more sustainable the farm will be.

The Little by Little campaign is next week. This is a great time for for first-time and small-dollar donors to really make their contributions count. Please tell others about our cause! With your help, we hope to raise enough funds to complete the bath house and to build the maize storage shed.

Your much appreciated donation will bring us closer to our goal of making Zambezi Farm self-supporting. Thank you thank you thank you from the farmers and the entire AACDP community.

Zambezi Farm

Partially built farmers' house

Links:

AACDP web site

Permalink

‹ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ›

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.