Train Primary Teachers in Conservation Agriculture

Last month our UK team had the pleasure of the visiting the five schools we are currently working with and seeing the outcomes of their recent activities in preparing nutritional gardens. When the rains failed last season so did huge amounts of crops nationwide leaving communities struggling to feed themselves. The schools we are working in will be better attended if they also offer the chance of a good meal as well as an education. In order to prepare the nutritional gardens areas have been cleared and weeded, compost piles have been built and rotated, mulch has been prepared and laid in the planting beds.

The range of activities it takes to prepare the land is quite labour intensive so it is important that the staff we have trained from the school as well as other community members all get stuck in applying the climate smart agriculture methods we teach – methods which can be easily adopted elsewhere. We are delighted to see an increase in the work put in by students who are leaning about farming as part of their agriculture curriculum. They will benefit from stronger feeding programmes once the crops can be harvested and as they next generation of farmers they will be able to see the improved crop yields available to them when comparing the school’s activities to those in their rural homes.

Crops include maize, sugar bean, kale, covo, rape, tomatoes and more leading to a good range of micro-nutrients to be included in their diets.

We thank all our supporters for helping to make this happen.

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As the year drew to a close so did the furious work of getting ‘Pfumvudza’ plots ready for the rains. A single Pfumvudza plot is capable of feeding a family of 6 for a year with either maize or sugar bean and with 8 plots per school they represent a huge boost to their ability to consistently feed students. 

Sadly the rains were late impacting planting for millions of subsistence farmers across the continent. But late is better than never and with so much work done we must now wait for the seeds to germinate and grow. With the addition of skills developed (including mulching, composting, weeding, fertiliser development and more) and practiced, we hope that this leads to a bumper crop and a record breaking harvest.

Best wishes and compliments of the new season to everyone who supports and takes an interest in our work. Here’s to a happier, healthier and more nourishing 2024.

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• ZET Facebook Page