The schoolchildren’s families also work in the school garden and on the school grounds, thus acquiring knowledge about plant varieties, pig farming, composting, irrigation and measures against evaporation and erosion. 

They apply this knowledge at home: they plant their own home gardens in which they grow native vegetable varieties to supplement and improve their diet.  

Individual farmers take on the role of lead farmers: they encourage other villagers to plant their own small gardens and are there to help and give advice.

The production of compost and of organic plant protection products, which help to increase the harvest, is a central element in ASUD’s knowledge transfer.

Farmers who are interested in animal breeding receive pigs from ASUD. If reproduction is successful, the piglets are distributed to other villagers. At the same time, the pig manure is used to produce compost..

Groups of farmers merge together to plant common fields close to water sources or streams. They can irrigate these fields using solar-powered water pumps, enabling them to grow maize, beans, tomatoes and other vegetables even in the dry season.  

Thanks to the cooking demonstrations at the schools, the pupils’ parents learn how to prepare nutritious and varied meals.

The surplus harvest is sold and provides an additional income for the families.  

In the villages, it is mainly the women who form savings groups. They are trained and supported in bookkeeping and money management by ASUD employees. The money they save is used for common causes such as the maintenance of wells and solar-powered water pumps, for communal pig farming or for emergencies. 

ASUD has dug wells at all five project schools and in several communities together with the local population so that people have access to clean water, which they can also use to irrigate their home gardens. 

Various techniques are used to minimise water loss in the fields, prevent soil erosion and improve soil fertility. These include the digging of swales (see picture) in the fields and the planting of vertiver grass. 

Parallel to its work with schools and villages, ASUD has been setting up the APIC (ASUD Permaculture Innovation Centre) training centre for organic farming since 2022. Here, the team is implementing organic farming techniques and testing new technologies. There are also plans for setting up a seed bank of local seeds, which will then be distributed to farmers. 

APIC serves as a training centre for farmers, teachers, representatives of the local authorities and other interested parties. 

An important part of the project is the use of different techniques for making compost. The compost plays an important role in ensuring that the plants thrive. Here a teacher is teaching students about this topic.

Animal dung is needed to make compost, therefore the school keeps pigs. They now live in a larger and more robust pigsty and are visited and fed by the school children.

The parents learn the new techniques while helping in the school garden and apply them at home. Some of them are particularly committed and continue to test and develop these techniques. They use their know-how to support groups of farmers from the surrounding area in the building and successful cultivation of permaculture gardens.

The farmers also build pigsties at home and support each other in caring for the pigs and their reproduction.

These women farmers are trying out a new variant of compost production at home.

The harvests from the gardens provide the families with healthy vegetables. Thanks to the self-produced compost and the techniques for soil-moisture maintenance, the plants are thriving. The surplus can be sold on the market. This extra income has made it possible for Grace and her mother Mirrium to buy a bed.

They were also able to afford a small solar panel for the roof which provides them with electricity to charge their mobile phones.

This family was able to buy new windows for their house thanks to the sale of the surplus from their vegetable garden.

A few years ago, EcoSolidar financed a deep bore well for the school in Ng’ongo, thanks to which the students have clean water for drinking, cooking, their personal hygiene and the school garden. The well is also used by the village community.

Access to water used to be a big problem for the school and the community. There are water holes further away, but transporting this water is exhausting and time-consuming. In addition, the water is often polluted and hazardous to health.

Another access point to water in the region is a stream. As long as it has water, people can use it to irrigate their fields. Now, several farming families have joined forces and use solar-powered water pumps to transport water from the low-lying stream to their fields.

Through this the irrigation of fields has become easier and safer. Thanks to the solar panels, farming families can plant vegetables all year round and sell the surpluses. This pilot project is currently being extended to other communities.

A group of women on their way to their community field, which is located a little outside the village.

Women’s groups from the communities are central to ASUD’s project, which can also be seen at the new sites. The women carry the project in many ways: they join together in groups and support each other in constructing and developing their own permaculture gardens.

The women also support the schools and their children by working in the school garden. In this way, they acquire a lot of knowledge and at the same time learn new techniques, which they can implement at home. Thomas Ngwira, ASUD’s Executive Director, points out: “I have learnt that the whole community benefits from the women’s support, as they are directly responsible for the family’s well-being.”

Currently, four other primary schools in northern Malawi are implementing the same project at their premises. Ownership, i.e. the fact that the project belongs to the people involved and is implemented and supported by them, is also a key priority at these new sites. Thomas Ngwira is convinced that this is the only way the projects will make sense and last in the long term.

During our last visit, there were festive inauguration ceremonies. The newly planted school gardens, the new pigsties and the banana plantations were visited and celebrated by the people. The joy about this project and the importance for the people were clearly noticeable.