Soils, Food and Healthy Communities

SFHC in the news

rachel — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:07:15 +0000

SFHC has been highlighted by the International Development Research Centre on their website: http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-156175-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

An article in the magazine ‘Seedling’ also highlighted SFHC, including an interview with Enoch Chione, a participating farmer and SFHC community promoter (see cover of magazine and ‘Box 5′ which was co-authored by Lizzie Shumba and Rachel Bezner Kerr): http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=665

Farmers testing Cowpea and Sorghum

rachel — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:57:56 +0000

Two hundred farmers throughout Ekwendeni region tested sorghum and cowpea in 2009-2010 season as possible drought-tolerant crops to include in their farming system to increase food security. Farmers designed their own experiments to test the crops, some growing them in intercrops, others trying sole-cropping systems. All farmers met to discuss their experiments in February, to exchange ideas and experiences. Some farmers had difficulty with germination of the sorghum, which is a very small-seeded crop, but many were excited by the possibility of adding another crop which is better able to withstand dry spells. An initial assessment of the experiments will be conducted after the harvest is completed.

Planning Meeting for new Climate Change Adaptation project

rachel — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:52:14 +0000

SFHC held a planning meeting with colleagues from the Ekwendeni Hospital AIDS Programme, Bunda College of Agriculture, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, the University of Western Ontario (Canada) and MALEZA in May 2010. We are launching a new research project, funded by the International Development Research Centre, called Participatory Farmer Research on Agroecological Adaptation to Environmental Change and HIV/AIDS in Malawi. The project, which is taking place in Ekwendeni and Kasungu (central Malawi) will involve participatory experiments with 400 households on climate change adaptation strategies, along with research to understand farmer and government perspectives on climate change.

Recipes demonstrated to Canadian visitors

rachel — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 12:40:33 +0000

A group of sixteen Canadians, representing the Presbyterian Church in Canada, visited the SFHC project in August. Several healthy recipes were prepared by participating farmers in the presence of the visitors. Some of these were as follows:soya milk, pigeonpea relish, soya meat, fried bananas, soya coffee, pigeonpea and bananas. The visitors sampled the dishes and enjoyed some songs with the farmers.

SFHC members attend policy workshop

rachel — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 12:23:15 +0000

Lizzie Shumba and Rachel Bezner Kerr attended a policy workshop on soil fertility management and seed systems in Lilongwe, Malawi August 31-Sept. 1 2009. The workshop was organized by Bunda College of Agriculture and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to discuss how legumes can be better linked to other efforts to address food security. Several interesting policy ideas were discussed and will be presented to government representatives. Lizzie and Rachel raised the work of SFHC as one way that government can support farmers in trying to address food security and soil fertility.

Participatory Workshop a Success

rachel — Sun, 24 May 2009 11:20:39 +0000

A participatory workshop was held in May 2009 with 60 farmer representatives as well as staff and representatives from the Ekwendeni Hospital AIDS Program. The workshop involved assessing challenges and achievements of the project over the last 3 years, and thinking about strategies for the next few years. Rachel Bezner Kerr and Lizzie Shumba presented some highlights from research findings from the past three years. Farmers were keen to have these results published in chiTumbuka so that they could present them to the communities. The workshop was considered very helpful for planning for steps ahead.

Harvest Looking Healthy

rachel — Sun, 24 May 2009 11:09:20 +0000

Zacharia Nkhonya, Boyd Zimba, Rodgers Msachi and the members of the FRT have been pegging areas to collect yield data in 2009, and they have observed very healthy looking maize, and excellent legume fields. They think that the harvest this year should be very high, and look forward to collecting data in June-July.

National Geographic Article highlights SFHC

rachel — Sun, 24 May 2009 11:06:48 +0000

A new article in the magazine National Geographic highlights the SFHC project as an agroecological alternative to the dominant model of agriculture of fertilizers, hybrid seeds and pesticides being promoted for Africa. The author, Joel Bourne, visited the project in November 2008, and interviewed Rachel on the phone following his trip. To read the article visit: http://s.ngm.com/print/2009/06/cheap-food/bourne-text

Lizzie back to school

rachel — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 19:41:01 +0000

Lizzie Shumba, the Project Coordinator, has returned to the Natural Resources College in September, after having a break from her studies. Lizzie has been on ’study leave’ since February 2008. She spent her ‘break’ helping write reports and carry out seed collection and assessment. We wish her the best in her studies this coming semester!

Project involvement improves child growth

rachel — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 19:38:42 +0000

Analysis by the SFHC team and collaborating researchers of anthropometric data collected over 8 years indicates that project involvement has a positive, significant effect on child weight-for-age, which is an indicator of child nutritional status. A report on these exciting findings will be submitted for publication in a scientific journal. See our ‘research results’ for a summary of the findings.