Soils, Food and Healthy Communities

Earlier this year, SFHC students and staff (Maia, Noah, & Verna) had the chance to join SFHC staff and community promoters on a visit to Jombo. They met with village members and had the chance to learn about the farmers and their fields, as well as hear about how SFHC has supported their farming development.

Farmers noted that they enjoy the collaborative nature within their community and the extensive support they can receive from one another. They also emphasized how SFHC has brought them farmer education, family support, and provided good and nutritious seeds to them.

Our team had a wonderful time getting to meet Jombo farmers and loved getting to hear much more about their stories. Please take a look here to read more about this!

On January 17^th 2023, SFHC was excited to welcome a group of researchers, members of nonprofits, and farmers at the SFHC Centre for the Strengthening Agroecology Regional Networks Workshop! This workshop was aimed to foster knowledge-sharing and discussions among stakeholders from Malawi, Uganda, and Tanzania.

Attendees exchanged findings and strategies for promoting agroecology at regional levels while also developing action plans to support the necessary institutional framework on a larger scale. Presenters and keynote speakers shared their wonderful work on organic agriculture and on policy.

We are so proud of the great progress and achievements that have been made in agroecological efforts! You can find further details about this by reading the summary of this workshop and also The Daily Times news’ article that covered it.

We are deeply saddened by the sudden losses of Penjani Kanyimbo and Godfrey Mbizi, who both passed away on Saturday, February 4th in flash floods. Both Penjani and Godfrey were longtime employees of SFHC.

Penjani Kanyimbo was born in Chitipa, a multilingual region of Malawi near the northern borders with Tanzania and Zambia. His natural talent for languages would eventually have a great impact on our work. Penjani joined SFHC in the year 2000. Over the last 23 years, he played many roles through his multi-faceted work at the organization: from driver, to translator and interpreter, to manager of the Farmer Research & Training Centre. We will miss his kindness, his gentle humour, and his sincere, generous spirit.

Godfrey Mbizi became a member of SFHC in 2014, during the Malawi Farmer to Farmer Agroecology Project (MAFFA). He first became involved as a member of the Farmer Research Team. Over the next few years he quickly established himself as not only a talented farmer, but a strong community leader with a clear commitment to the goals of our work. He was hired as a community promoter in 2017, and as a member of staff he worked hard with our team to support farmers throughout his home region of Jombo. We will miss his deep knowledge and his dedication.

The losses of Penjani and Mbizi are profoundly felt by the staff, farmers, researchers and wider community of SFHC, as they are felt by all of us who were touched by the lives of these incredible colleagues and friends. Each of them has left behind a spouse, children, and grieving families.

If you are interested in supporting the families of our two colleagues, you can donate here, through a memorial fund set up via Friends of SFHC.

Lizzie Shumba joined SFHC in 2003 and since then has contributed much to our efforts and to the success of SFHC. The Agroecology and Livelihood Collaborative (ALC) from the University of Vermont conducted an interview with Lizzie to tell her story in helping promote agroecology within Malawi to support communities. Her work has contributed to supporting nutrition, climate adaptation, gender equity, and leadership. You can read more about this in ALC’s website, where the interview can be found in English, French, and Spanish.

Meet Lizzie Shumba: Advancing Nutrition, climate Adaptation, and gender justice in Malawi.

Blume, S., & Bucini, G. (2022). Meet Lizzie Shumba: Advancing nutrition, climate adaptation, and gender justice in Malawi. Perspectives on Agroecology Transitions – No. 4. Agroecology and Livelihoods Collaborative (ALC), University of Vermont.

The SFHC team and the communities we work with play a crucial role in helping us reach our goals of promoting sustainability, health, and equity, so we love to share the voices of the wonderful people that make all of this possible! We met with Lizzie Shumba, the SFHC Agriculture and Nutrition Manager, and with Maria Mayuma, an SFHC Farmer, for them to talk about our agroecological works to address climate change and gender equity. SFHC is engaged in training and supporting our communities, and you can learn more about us through the videos with Lizzie and Maria below!

Exciting news: new research from our SFHC team has just been published! This research is centered around examining crop diversity and its effect on food security and women’s diet quality through an intervention in Malawi. As always, we are very proud of our team and of their work! The abstract can be found on the  Recent Publications page. You can also reach out to our research collaborator, Rachel Bezner Kerr (rbeznerkerr@cornell.edu), for a PDF copy of these papers!

Does Crop Diversity Influence Household Food Security and Women’s Individual Dietary Diversity? A Cross-Sectional Study of Malawian Farmers in a Participatory Agroecology and Nutrition Project.

Ibukun Owoputi, Nola Booth, Isaac Luginaah, Hanson Nyantakyi-Frimpong, Lizzie Shumba, Laifolo Dakishoni, Esther Lupafya, Catherine Hickey, and Rachel BeznerKerr

We are proud to share new research from our team within the last year! Both works come from our FARMS for Biodiversity Project, and they include a research approach to transdisciplinary agroecology and an assessment of local views on forest reforestation. The abstracts can be found in the  Recent Publications page. You can also reach out to our research collaborator, Rachel Bezner Kerr (rbeznerkerr@cornell.edu), for a PDF copy of these papers!

Chapter One – Transdisciplinary agroecological research on biodiversity and ecosystem services for sustainable and climate resilient farming systems in Malawi

Kpienbaareh, D., Bezner Kerr, R., D. Amoak, T. Chunga, Laifolo Dakishoni, S. Enloe, T. Gondwe, A. Iverson, P. Kanyimbo, G. Küstner, E. Lupafya, I. Luginaah, T. Mehreteab,V. Mayer, I. Mhoni, M. Mkandawire, T. Mkandawire, P. Moyo, P. Munthali, U. S. Nagothu, H. Nyantakyi-Frimpong, K. Poveda, L. Shumba, I. Steffan-Dewenter, Y. Tembo, C. Vogel, J. Wang.

Assessing local perceptions of deforestation, forest restoration, and the role of agroecology for agroecosystem restoration in northern Malawi

Kpienbaareh, D., I. Luginaah, R. Bezner Kerr, J. Wang, K. Poveda, I. Steffan-Dewenter, E. Lupafya and L. Dakishoni.

Over one week, the SFHC team traveled to village areas Luzi, Kamwe, Kavula, and Mlimo to conduct recipe demonstrations. Farmers learned new and different recipes using locally grown crops. The training provided aimed to promote household nutrition and food security. In the villages, a common sentiment is that a nutritious diet incorporating all six food groups would require individuals to spend too much money and time. The SFHC team demonstrated the possibility of a more diverse diet using accessible ingredients. With the village members, we prepared soy milk, bean sausages, cakes, pumpkin leaves, donuts made from sweet potato, cassava, and pumpkin and other dishes. After the dishes were prepared, adults and children gathered to present the dishes they had helped make providing instructions for how the food was prepared. Lunch was also served, and the many dishes were enjoyed with relish and good cheer!

In July, the seed fair at SFHC gathered farmers from many village areas to showcase their different seed varieties and discuss agricultural practices and methods. Farmers presented their assortment of indigenous, local, and hybrid seeds and shared their expertise about their seeds. Many discussed their understanding of cultural and traditional practices associated with certain seeds, along with the history of seeds within their village. Within group discussion, individual farmers elaborated on their observations with scarce seed varieties including mambamba, yam, watermelon, and bean varieties, and emphasized the need for farmers to cooperate and unite in their vision for the future. During the recession, selling seeds has become more difficult, so many agreed that farmers must preserve and share scarce varieties. Many expressed their desire for more farmers to work as a collective forming groups to set better prices and provide better quality products.