Field Visit

Our first field visit was a welcome change from combing over project papers, reviewing financial statements, gathering details, and working on a template for the annual report. The opportunity to visit several of the sites associated with this project and to meet the local farmers reminded us of the wonderful field visits we had while in Kenya. It was natural to do some comparison. While we found the condition of the paved roads to be considerably better and the off roads noticeably less rocky, the field paths connecting the villages were equally challenging. Harry, who is getting quite adept at driving on the left side of the road, shifting gears, and switching between two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive, has acquired the added skill of selecting the least rugged part of these paths to protect Annie’s back and the World Renew vehicle.

On Wednesday we went with Josephat, the Development Facilitator for Chipata district, to visit three of the thirty groups he is responsible for. His job is to make visits on a rotating basis to each of his groups of thirty-five farmers to do trainings on conservation farming and much more.  Topics include the value of crop rotation, the advantage of fertility ditches (pits) and the benefit of planting drought resistant crops. These are not only lectures but are usually accompanied by hands-on experience in the demonstration plots.

The members of the three groups, who had gathered voluntarily, were very welcoming, friendly and eager to share and interact with us. We have learned a few phrases of Zambian greetings but our acting skills (particularly Annie’s) come in really handy! They love to laugh with (at?) us.

The first site we attended consisted of a group of farmers wishing to share and teach us what fertility ditches looked like. The photos attached may help to explain, but if you want to try this in your garden, we would happily go into detail in another blog.

Next, with Josephat acting as our essential navigator (there are no signs!), we drove to the second site to observe one of the new income generating activities associated with this project. This group had received five beehives and was getting regular training in bee keeping, along with the above mentioned farming techniques. As we met under a large tree, the village children also sat in – mostly out of curiosity. Their farming education is starting at a young age!

Our final visit was to a group who welcomed us with singing and dancing! Their joy was to show us an amazing demonstration plot with a large variety of crops that were planted as samples of drought resistant plants that this project is promoting. These were planted, of course, in fertility ditches. Some were: sunflowers, ground nuts, soya beans, maize, cowpeas and tephrosia, an amazing plant that sends nitrogen to the soil via its roots, grows seeds near the top for future planting, has an attractive bloom for those who appreciate beauty and has leaves that act like anti-insecticides (these can be used to keep bugs out of stored crops). As this is Zambian winter, most of this variety of plants had been harvested a few months ago but we were able to visualize what this area would look like at its peak. This group had also invested their own money into a new enterprise – raising broiler chickens. Their pilot group of 250 chickens was four days away from maturity. Income generating activities are being promoted in this project as a way to ensure that the people are able to feed their families all year round.

We arrived home with record breaking amounts of sand and dirt on our feet, wet and sweaty and a bit weak due to the heat and no lunch until five pm (maybe our age is a factor…) but, we were happier than pigs in …….a manure pile, and ended our day with the most appreciated shower ever and an early night.

It was a great experience!