Climate Action Malawi Project #41625

Sustainable Farming to Relieve Hunger in Malawi

by Warm Heart Worldwide, Inc

Sustainable Farming to Relieve Hunger in Malawi

Project Report | Jul 3, 2024
Harvest Time, Expanding Networks, and Savings Circles

By Evelind Schecter | Program Leader

Measuring new trench dimensions to make biochar

It's harvest time in Malawi and Kenya. The farmers have been busy bringing in their crops, hoping the rains will hold off until they're ready for the next planting. Our teams have been testing new trench sizes to find more efficient ways to make biochar and reviewing the training to qualify farmers to join the carbon credit program.

In Kenya, heavy flooding sent one of our farmer's villages to an emergency tent camp on higher ground. The farmers are now seeing how much they can salvage.

Our teams in Kenya, Malawi, and the DRC asked for a small grant to kick off Savings Circles "Table Banking" to address the constant issues of cash flow shortages and debt management. In Kenya, the government requires the group to register, set up a bank account, and complete training. So far there are 21 members of the " Community Champions Initiative Group", and they have started setting their goals for the funds. By supporting each other, they commit to a manageable savings plan and reach their goals faster. Malawi is now registered with the government, as well. In the DRC, our leader is working with local organizations that foster the savings circles.

The DRC team has continued to train villages outside of the areas of fighting. They have been active in learning and testing new ways to use biochar to improve the lives of villagers. Their wall plaster is depicted in the photo below.

Our lead from Liberia went to the Gambia to start a group of trainers who will expand the biochar training there. From the organizer: "They have all committed to make biochar on their own plots, and we will follow up to encourage people from the same village to work together--their land is close to one another such that they can each have their own trench, but make the biochar jointly, consecutively, on the same day, and invite others in the village to watch."

Michael went to Nigeria to facilitate the cooperation between the local government and a social enterprise looking at ways to help the local populace with biochar. See the link below.

These are all gains that you have fostered with your support.

Thank you, and best wishes for a safe and fun summer!

Dana, Michael, Evelind, and the Warm Heart Biochar Teams

Mercy visits farmer at tent camp after flooding

Augustine from Liberia training in Gambia

DRC Sealing walls with biochar plaster

Michael during Nigeria Crossroads Meetings

"Community Canmpions Initiative" Saving Circle

Links:

UNICROSS Partnership For Food Security, Improved Farmer QOL

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Mar 5, 2024
Recognition of Biochar Grows as We Expand Training

By Evelind Schecter | Program Leader

DRC Biochar Team Training in Burundi

We’re gearing up for 2024 biochar training and production. We started the year with our trainers in the Democratic Republic of Congo making it safely to neighboring Burundi to train a community interested in learning about biochar for soil health as well as making briquettes for cooking.

The rapid deforestation to make charcoal for cooking is depleting watersheds and causing soil erosion. Farmers can turn this into a small business as they reap the benefits of biochar in their soils.

Thanks to our DRC team for venturing around dangerous areas of political conflict to deliver the training. They arrived back home safely. Olivier, a university student from Burundi, organized the training and the community group to follow through on the plans for the social enterprise.

Our courageous DRC Team Leader reports "We are glad to arrive safely at home after training farmers in Burundi and DRC ( Goma, Bukavu, and Uvura) as we spoke on: how to make and use biochar, how to make compost, how to purify water, how to make biochar briquettes, how to build biomass storage and how to fight the global warming and the climate change as we use biochar."

The team in Liberia that Michael trained last year plans to train in The Gambia in April.

In Malwai the team is surveying farmers to improve our planning and reporting - checking on feedstock availability, and farm sizes as well as checking with farmers who were trained in biochar, to see how many have adopted this core farming practice.

The incubator you funded during COVID-19 at the Monastery in Zomba is producing chicks at a great rate. The funds from the sales go to paying school fees for local children in need. The school system is formally free, but the cost of mandatory school uniforms often cause children to be sent home and lose out on their education.

Lots of great work and lives improved with your gifts!

Thank you!

Best wishes for the months ahead,

Dana, Evelind, Michael and the Biochar Teams

Making briquettes by hand to avoid deforestation

Checking feedstock moisture level

New chicks from incubator in Malawi

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Nov 6, 2023
Biochar Adoption Growing

By Evelind Schecter | Program Leader

Malawi Trainers teach in Zambia

As farmers look for ways to manage the high temperatures and limited water, biochar is gaining interest from smallholder farmers around the world. We are focused on East Africa and Thailand, working to keep up with requests for training. Aom, our Thailand Country Manager attended a major climate conference in Nairobi and has been asked to assist the Thai Embassy in adding biochar to their agricultural exchange program in Kenya.

So far this year we have trained over 150 villages in Malawi with 9000 farmers in attendance. Session sizes have expanded from an average of 50 people to over 60 as farmers invite their neighbors. The training sessions were particularly popular after the cyclone hit and flooded many farms. Farmers have used the debris to make biochar. Donations of seed have helped get them to restart their farms.

Our Malawi trainers went over the border into Zambia to train a new network there. The village leaders had been asking for training for several months, promising to "train the trainers" to spread the knowledge.

In Kenya, we have been planning the next round of training. When the crops are planted, there will be time for training before the harvest.

Our partners in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo continue to expand their networks and training. The Edward Hamlet Regenerative Agriculture Center is raising funds to create a dormitory for farmers coming long distances to train. In the DCR, the training team has managed to get out to remote villages. This is despite fighting in nearby villages between insurgency groups. The DRC also sponsored a Savings Circle with women farmers, to learn money management and find funding for small enterprises.

Thanks to you these farmers' lives and those of their families are improving every day!

Warm regards,

Dana, Michael, Evelind, and the Warm Heart Biochar Teams in East Africa

P.S. Please mark your calendars for #Giving Tuesday, November 28, and tell your friends; to help us add a few new donors. GlobalGiving has a matching bonus pool of over $ 1 million. All gifts up to $2500 are matched. The more we raise the more we earn of the bonus pool.

Aom with Thai ag mission in Kenya

Malawi Training

Setting up the trench dimensions

Uganda making biochar with sesame waste

DRC Training Village Women

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