Education Zimbabwe Project #20928

Train Primary Teachers in Conservation Agriculture

by Zimbabwe Educational Trust (ZET)

Project Report | Feb 13, 2017
Foundations for Farming Winter Update

By Hannah O'Riordan | Project Leader

Schools receiving inputs

In October and November, Foundations for Farming conducted two technical support visits to five schools.

The purpose of the visit was:

to distribute inputs for them to use for planting and watering their plots, including hoes, watering cans, maize seed, fertilizer and vegetable seed. The schools could then use these for food and income production
to assess the schools progress and sustainability, identifying how many students and communities had been taught sustainable farming methods and evaluating the success of the project, as this would be Foundations for Farming’s final visit to each of these schools

This was vital as many of the schools had the knowledge of conservation and climate-smart agriculture techniques, thanks to training by Foundations for Farming, but lacked the necessary tools. It was clear this knowledge had been successfully passed down from the teachers to the students, and giving hope that these students can go out to transfer these skills to the rest of the community.

Across the schools ZET and Foundations for Farming have been working in, a total of 17 staff, 338 pupils and 87 community members have been trained in conservation agriculture, learning the most effective, sustainable and resilient farming methods for their land.

The schools had successfully taken on the methods and message advocated by Foundations for Farming, but some struggled with certain activities, including mulching, weeding or composting due to a shortage of time or resources.

These visits gave the Foundations for Farming a clearer picture of how the schools would perform long after the program ended. All the schools showed a lot of promise but there is still need for continuous encouragement required to motivate the teachers.

Of all the schools, St Johns was the best performing school with more enthusiastic pupils than the rest of the schools. St John’s benefitted from a strong relationship with Foundations for Farming, and was visited often for training, tools and support. This shows the importance of building long-lasting intensive relationships, and having enough staff and funds to implement the project successfully.

In 2017, Foundations for Farming intends to renew this work by partnering with new schools and continuing its training in efficient farming methods to provide communities with more opportunities for food and income production. Two new schools have already been identified thanks to ZET's funding, but we will need help to reach more communities across Zimbabwe, as they struggle to cope with the continued effects of poverty and climate change.

Students finishing their agricultural training

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Nov 25, 2016
Foundations for Farming Autumn Update

By Hannah O'Riordan | Project Leader

Healthy looking maize plants grown by pupils

Summary of Schools Projects Implemented

Foundations for Farming has been mainstreaming Conservation Agriculture (CA) in 12 Anglican schools. Several representatives from the schools and the surrounding communities were chosen by the school Headmasters and Headmistresses. These representatives included the Headmasters and Headmistresses themselves, school teachers, School Development Committee (SDC) members and local Extension officers.

The school and community representatives were initially invited to a four day training, where they were taught about the CA principles, leadership, compost building, vegetable production, herbs, grain storage as well as apiary (bee keeping). All these lessons were meant to encourage the schools to be self-sustainable by venturing into various income generating projects at the school. Very good results are expected in the schools that have been trained and provided with technical support.

Summary of Community Projects Implemented

Foundations for Farming (FfF) has over the past three months, trained three communities from different ethnical backgrounds in Conservation Agriculture and different aspects of how to alleviate poverty and hunger in their families. After having provided the communities with these life changing 2 week trainings, FfF staff have conducted technical support visits to these communities to prepare them for the agricultural season which has just recently begun. The communities were selected through organizations and churches with the intention of promoting sustainable development in surrounding communities.

Conclusion

So this quarter FfF has trained:

28 School Headmasters and Headmistresses, school teachers, SDC members and Extension officers.
90 vulnerable community members

We hope that ZET will be able to emulate our efforts to empower the future generation with this precious methods of farming which have the potential to alleviate poverty and hunger in most schools and communities.

Farming inputs donated to schools

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Aug 30, 2016
Foundations for Farming Summer Update

By Hannah O'Riordan | Project Leader

Foundations for Farming would like to thank all their supporters from Global Giving and ZET for helping them to train primary school teachers in Conservation Agriculture and Climate Smart Agriculture.

Zimbabwe experienced a devastating drought this year, disrupting the livelihoods and quality of life for many across the region. This led to low crop production, food insecurity and malnutrition. The drought decimated many villages, leaving most rural families unable to send their children to school or afford health care.

Foundations for Farming has spent the last quarter continuing to train and prepare communities to cope with severe weather, climate change and food insecurity. The approach introduced by Foundations for Farming encourages the recognition of the value of children’s input; educating children on the importance of climate change and how Conservation Agriculture can be used to reduce its impact. This makes them ambassadors for these methods in their communities, improving food security. This is important for giving younger generations a sense of ownership and investment in the project, and leading to sustainable community-led development.

Foundations for Farming successfully trained 4 Teachers from 2 schools, St John’s and St Michael’s, in Conservation Agriculture and Agroforestry. These teachers have become Trainers of Trainers in their schools and communities. The plots at the schools are being used as learning sites for the school children, where they learn the various ways of addressing climate change issues. Currently an estimated 200-250 children have managed to share the knowledge they received from their schools with their families. Crop yield in the past quarter has been impressive, considering the severe drought in Zimbabwe this year.

This project has the potential to improve the lives and skills of children and their families across Zimbabwe. Schools and local families will have the necessary knowledge and skills to introduce income generating projects and improve the children’s nutritional health by providing a balanced diet.

However, unfortunately, Foundations for Farming has had to stop its operations training teachers and working with schools due to a lack of funding. We have plans to resume work again as soon as funding makes possible, but thank you for all your support so far.

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