PIONEERING SPIRIT IN ORGANIC FARMING

Our local partner organisation KODO (Kuthandiza Osayenda Disability Outreach) supports farmers with walking disabilities in the areas of mobility, income generation and food security in Salima, Malawi.

Pioniergeist Fotoreportage

PIONEERING SPIRIT IN ORGANIC FARMING

Our local partner organisation KODO (Kuthandiza Osayenda Disability Outreach) supports farmers with walking disabilities in the areas of mobility, income generation and food security in Salima, Malawi. KODO offers courses in tailoring and cane chair making. At the same time, all participants are trained in organic farming and permaculture and accompanied in the implementation of  these new techniques. Thanks to organic farming techniques, they are able to feed themselves and their families in a healthy manner without having to spend a lot of money on seeds and chemical fertilisers. They pass on their new know-how to others, which simultaneously strengthens their social position in the community. 

Photos: EcoSolidar

PHOTO REPORT FROM THE PROJECT IN MALAWI

KODO_Gebäude

At KODO there is a special building which houses the courses in tailoring and cane chair making, a permaculture garden and next to it a hostel financed by EcoSolidar with rooms for the course participants. 

KODO Training Kompost

All course participants are trained in organic farming during their time at KODO. Here, a training on compost production is taking place.

KODO Zimmer und Betten

The rooms are tailored to the needs of course participants with walking disabilities, i.e. the beds are built extra low.

KODO Tereza und Kollegin

Tereza Bute (right) has been trained in tailoring and organic farming at KODO. Today she is a lead farmer. In this capacity, she passes on her know-how to 30 farmers from her village.

KODO Tereza Kompost

Here, Tereza is showing a group of villagers how they can make simple organic compost from existing natural materials so that they do not have to buy chemical fertilisers.

In the village, Tereza breeds rabbits, which the farming families distribute among themselves. Rabbits provide manure for the compost. Tereza continuously acquires new know-how and passes it on to the others. In May 2021, she was able to attend an external training course at the Paradise Institute, Malawi with KODO.

Tereza and her husband are a good team. During her 6-month absence, her husband took care of the household and the children. Both of them saw the training as an investment in the future that is paying off today.

At home, Tereza can successfully apply what she has learned, namely how to make organic compost, which plants to use for pest control and how to provide enough moisture by means of irrigation techniques and soil cover.

Tereza mit Mann und Sohn Ernte

Tereza and her husband are harvesting fresh peanuts in their field. They are satisfied with their harvest.

KODO Erdnüsse Kreis

The harvesting is attracting the children from the village, who sit down and help to separate the peanuts from the stalks. On this occasion, the fresh fruits are eagerly tasted.

Dorothy Kabambe has learned organic farming and tailoring at KODO. At home, she sews and sells clothes. The new income gives her self-confidence and improves her social standing in the community.

George Chimpiko, founder and director of KODO, on the road with Dorothy. He himself also has a walking disability. His goal is to enable people with walking disabilities to be able to provide for themselves.

Dorothy mit Rollstuhl

Dorothy has received a wheelchair from KODO. She can use it to go to her field and work there. An important goal of KODO is to provide mobility to farmers with walking disabilities to make them more independent.

Polina Judesi (right) has completed a course in weaving at KODO and has been taught organic farming at the same time. Today she produces and sells small tables and chairs. She makes compost for her fields and she uses local maize varieties, from which she produces her own seeds. This makes her independent of buying expensive seedlings and chemical fertilisers. As a lead farmer, she passes on her know-how to others. 

Akim Chifuno is a follow farmer of Polina. She regularly visits him and assists him in overcoming any difficulties. Akim has attended a course in tailoring and organic farming at KODO. He is able to earn a small income by sewing. In addition, Akim has planted a cotton field, for which he makes his own organic compost, and has surrounded it with a number of pest-repellent plants. And what is important, he has found a market for the cotton he produces.

KODO Malawi Masken

During the Corona pandemic, the training centre had to close temporarily. During this time, the former course participants sewed masks and KODO set up hand-washing stations in the villages. Here, George Chimpiko (left) is visiting a former course participant who is sewing masks.

Food security for farmers with a disability

In Salima, Malawi, KODO introduces (walking-impaired) farmers who have a walking handicap to the basic techniques of organic agriculture and supports their practical implementation. For the people with a walking handicap and their relatives this is a major step towards independence. KODO supports a total of 150 families in 5 communities, Maumsamantha Chimithira and Tobias Mafuken among them.

Food security for farmers with a disability

In Salima, Malawi, KODO introduces (walking-impaired) farmers who have a walking handicap to the basic techniques of organic agriculture and supports their practical implementation. For the people with a walking handicap and their relatives this is a major step towards independence. KODO supports a total of 150 families in 5 communities, Maumsamantha Chimithira and Tobias Mafuken among them.

Photos Christian Jaeggi

Photo report about the project in Malawi

The walking-impaired Maumsamantha Chimithira is on the way to her small piece of land. The 34-year-old farmer is a single parent and has to provide for her four children.

Maumsamantha has a handicap in walking due to a failed operation in her childhood. Medical care in Malawi is inadequate. Leg pain is part of Maumsamantha’s daily life.

Maumsamantha lives together with her four children and her parents in modest circumstances in Ntschepa, Malawi. The family unites in taking care of the fields and processing the harvest.

Off to the neighbouring village: Maumsamantha is one of the lead farmers trained by KODO. She passes on her know-how to other smallholders, so that they can also learn about the advantages of organic agriculture.

The role of a lead farmer gives Maumsamantha great prestige and a new place in the community. This fills her with pride.

George Chimpiko, director of KODO, gives Maumsamantha courage and confidence in difficult times. He was born with a clubfoot and knows how hard it is to find one’s way with a disability in Malawi.

Maumsamantha has learned with KODO how to produce compost and apply other organic farming methods. Since then she has been able to do without expensive hybrid seeds and toxic pesticides.

Mealtime: Maumsamantha and her family can live from their harvests. This is a great achievement, because Malawi has been hit by severe droughts and food shortages in recent years.

Hunger and malnutrition are widespread in Malawi. This is where KODO comes in: People with disabilities should be able to produce their own food with simple means and little money.

In Chimpaga, Malawi, charismatic Tobias Mafuken introduces his community members to organic agriculture. He has been trained as a lead farmer by KODO.

Tobias has four children and a wife who supports him loyally. Tobias is glad that thanks to KODO’s training he can provide for his family despite his disability.

Tobias lives with his family in very modest circumstances. A small room, some containers for the meals, a few blankets and tools have to be enough for the family of six. They have no access to electricity or running water.

With great persuasiveness Tobias shows other farmers how compost is produced. For him, the advantages of organic agriculture are clear: no dependence on expensive seeds and chemical pesticides, a better quality of the produce and long-term soil fertility.

The hard work on the field was worth it. Tobias and his family can live from the harvest again this year. His wife lets the corn dry in the sun.

The village community of Chimpanga has received three goats from KODO as an aid to start organic agriculture. Through the goat manure the fertility of the soil will be increased and the harvest will be richer in the long run.

Although Tobias has to walk on crutches, he can do a lot of agricultural work on his own. His wife supports him with the rest, for example with the production of liquid fertilizer.

Tobias, whose walking disability is due to a snake bite in his childhood, is not the only one with this fate. KODO enables farmers with disabilities and their relatives to achieve independence.

Despite his disability Tobias is a recognised member of the community thanks to his work as a lead farmer.