"I have walked a kilometre away from poverty"
These are the words of Freddy Muchindu. Fred used to work at a commercial farm in Lusaka, Zambia, but in 1998 he was made redundant. He tried to support his family through casual work but often they went days without food.
In 1999 they moved to a rural area and hoped to grow their own food. But as soon as Fred saw the poor soils he asked himself, "Can this soil feed us?" He could not afford fertiliser and their harvests were very poor.
Fred subsequently got involved with Self Help Africa, and learned about a range of sustainable farming activities.
Using methods such as composting, crop rotation, and complimentary cropping, he can now feed his family whilst preserving the land and environment for his children.
He has been so successful that neighbouring farmers selected him to train as a Community Agriculture Worker. Now he is able to pass on his new skills to others. |
