© 2012 AID AFRICA  UK Registered Charity Number 1116336

AGRICULTURE

The obvious need for smarter agricultural practices to meet the dual challenges of malnutrition and hunger formed the original community scheme that launched Open Hand Projects back in 2005.  

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Climate ….

In the remote, rural areas of Malawi, more than 90% of the villagers rely on rain-fed subsistence farming to survive, and hunger is common.

There is only one “rainy” season - usually expected from November to March, and the single annual maize harvest depends on the quality of these rains.  Maize is the major crop here, and the basis for “nsima” the staple diet, the thick, heavy, carbohydrate basis for most meals, usually eaten rolled in a little “relish” - a vegetable or meat accompaniment.

But the climate can be erratic, volatile and increasingly unpredictable - ranging from torrential storms that devastate whole areas to searing drought and water shortage.

As a result, maize harvest yields have been dropping

as villagers wrestle with the combined challenges of extreme weather, over-dependence on a single crop, declining soil fertility, shortages of land,

seed, and chemical fertilisers, as prices soar…

• Training in conservation farming: minimum tillage,composting, specific planting, covering with mulch, crop rotation and diversification.

• Seed multiplication/provision: growing cassava - a viable alternative to maize - producing seed so local villagers can grow their own, along with distributing vegetable seeds and sweet potato vines.

• Growing and promoting moringa - a tree with leaves packed with essential nutrients - vits A & C, protein, calcium, iron & potassium - as a free green vegetable, and processed into a food supplement for the malnourished.

• Establishing tree nurseries - a central one on our site, and “satellite” community tree nurseries growing specific varieties selected for their potential in fuel, food and soil improvement, as part of our Reforestation Programme.

• Growing and distributing vegetables (e.g. tomatoes, mustard, onions, eggplants, amaranthus), to vulnerable households at nutritional risk.

• Promoting the use of compost, we choose to be fertiliser-free as local subsistence farmers could never afford expensive chemicals, so we aim to train and encourage them into higher crop yields by focusing on soil improvement.

Agriculture is still a core concern, so on our two sites, over the years, our practical efforts have become focused into 6 main areas:

Our sites ….

Working smarter ….