Knowledge is a garden. If it is not cultivated, you cannot harvest it.
Nutrition starts with education
Ongoing . . .
The Green Schools Network
In areas of extreme poverty, community and school gardens flourish
PROBLEM:
In Malawi’s agricultural history, food insecurity has been a reoccurring facet. As one of Africa's poorest countries - with 81% suffering from food insecurity according to the IMF in 2017 - improving agriculture starts with the children.
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ACTION:
The incorporation of agriculture into everyday school life for students not only feeds today's school children, but the lessons in permaculture are being adopted by the communities.
Working with local community leaders, CPAR has trained teachers, community members and school-based agriculture clubs on permaculture through hands-on school gardens.
Learning about soil conservation and chemical-free gardening, not only are the students in our 13-member network growing food for themselves, but they're teaching their parents as well.
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RESULTS SO FAR:
Approximately 12,000 school children are learning from and benefitting from the Green Schools Network and its focus on sustainable agriculture, thanks to support from our early funders - Gay Lea Foundation, ChariTree Foundation and the Blossom Foundation. In 2023, the Unifor Social Justice Fund signed on in support of the next phase of Green Schools - adding two new schools to GSN.
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READ MORE:
About how the Green Schools Network tackles water and sanitation while also nurturing school gardens.
Completed
Field to Families
Farmer Field Schools improve crop yields and empower women
PROBLEM:
Improving crop yields in Tanzania through education and the involvement of a greater percentage of women in production and management was the goal of this three-year program.
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ACTION:
CPAR established 30 Farmer Field Schools, with 735 smallholder farmers (538 were women) and village-level savings groups to provide farmers with access to credit and saving facilities. The Farmer Field Schools taught participants how to improve their agronomic practices, including use of improved seeds, the application of manure, proper plant spacing and timely weeding.
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RESULTS:
Farmers participating in the project increased staple crop production by an average of 383 per cent for maize and 459 per cent for cassava. Consequently, they saw their incomes rise by an average of 641 per cent. The impact of these gains was two-fold: the majority of farmers targeted by this project had sufficient food for their families and additional income to meet other household needs.
By the project’s close, 54 per cent of women in male-headed households reported shared control over income and expenditures, an increase of 49 per cent from the baseline numbers.
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READ MORE:
About Farmer Field Schools
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