Our Farmer Field Schools in Bibala, part of the Integrated Social Project in Namibe Province, have been enjoying great success despite continued drought in the region. Here at Mphatelo Farmers Field School, maize and sweet potato are growing well, and aubergine is being harvested. Other crops cultivated in the model fields have already been harvested for home consumption and for sale.
1 milhão de mangue foram plantadas em Angola antes de 31 de dezembro, conforme prometido por Angola à União Africana. O projecto foi lançado pelo vice-presidente de Angola e implementado pela Associação Otchiva. A Escola de Magistério ADPP Luanda participou, juntamente com milhares de outros voluntários, na restauração de mangais ao longo da costa de Luanda, Bengo, Cabinda e Zaire. A biodiversidade marinha local está a recuperar e as comunidades pesqueiras estão a se beneficiar.
The Cuvelai Basin is an immense area consisting of drainage channels that are dry for a large part of the year. During the rainy season, flooding is common because the terrain is very flat. Roads are few and barely transitable, hindering communication and movement. This lack of access to the remote and disperse communities of subsistence farmers who populate the region mean services, including health and agricultural extension services, are few and far between. This leaves the farmers and their families, who rely on seasonal rains, highly vulnerable.
Radio is a powerful communication tool that is highly cost effective and does not discriminate in terms of its audience, whether young or old, men or women, rich or poor, literate or illiterate. ADDP is making the most of this form of mass media to increase awareness about the impact of climate change, furnish information on conservation farming techniques, encourage horticulture, and advise on disease prevention including Covid-19. Local languages are used to ensure the broadest possible audience, and the broadcasts are backed up by theatre performances that drive home key messages in an entertaining yet clear way.
The broadcasts are popular and effective, as are the theatre performances that attract large and enthusiastic audiences.
Listen here:
The shift from subsistence farming to surplus farming is about more than simply increasing production. Farmers face many hurdles that have to be overcome, and women farmers in particular often face serious barriers to progress.
Activities this September at ADPP Farmers Club projects across the country demonstrate the wideranging elements that together support and empower women farmers to break down barriers.
Literacy, disease prevention, commercialisation of produce and economic diversification are among highights this month. World Literacy Day on 8 September focused attention on the importance of literacy skills among farmers. The day was celebrated in Quibala, Cuanza Sul, with the official launch of the Women’s Economic Empowerment project in the province, bringing together municipal education, agriculture, judicial and banking authorities. In Malanje, the Municipal Administrator, Agricultural Director, Municipal Head of Education, traditional and religious authorities, representatives of IPA, FAS and ADRA, and social partners joined literacy tutors and literacy learners celebrated literacy as a means of empowering not only women but men as well as society as a whole.
FC Luanda held a malaria testing campaign in collaboration with the Ministry of Health at Cabiri Health Post. Reducing the incidence of all preventable diseases improves people’s quality of life. For women farmers, it also means less time spent looking after sick members of the family and more time available for agricultural production and sale.
Agricultural production and sale are obviously key components at Farmers Clubs. WFC Cuanza Norte farmers displayed their produce at the 4th edition of Expo Cuanza Norte in Ndalatando, along with representatives from all the municipalities in the province, large and medium size businesses, producers and others. Showcasing produce at agricultural fairs helps link farmers with buyers.
Farmers Clubs Lóvua, in Lunda Norte, which is helping refugee and local farmers develop horticulture for own consumption and for sale at markets, is in full swing with the cultivation and harvesting of cucumber, carrots and many other vegetables.
At the other end of the country in Bibala, Namibe Province, the first beans of the season are being harvested by members of Farmer Field Schools. Despite the lack of water, the work never stops.
The environment is very much in focus, with global warming and climate change threatening livelihoods and life itself. Sustainable development is key but explaining the problem is not easy, especially to people living in rural or remote parts of the country and eking out a living without even the basics such as safe drinking water, electricity, or roads; and what solutions exist for them to contribute to sustainability while making improvements in their own potential to earn a living?
ADPP projects in Huambo work with just these questions. Teacher Training School ADPP Huambo, ADPP Polytechnic Huambo and Frontline Institute all have a tradition of cultivating vegetable gardens using conservation farming methods, both as a learning tool as well as a means of supplying the school kitchens with fresh healthy produce. Frontline Institute is closely involved in a project to help communities develop a sustainable charcoal industry, promoting tree planting, improving methods of producing charcoal, and providing training for traditional leaders and members of the community in conservation. EPP Huambo is collaborating with a project to produce and promote efficient charcoal stoves and to make briquettes from charcoal residue.
All these efforts received official recognition when the Ministry of the Environment's coordinator for the charcoal project, UNDP and IDEF visited Quissala on September 18 2021. During the visit, the guests enjoyed displays at ADPP Polytechnic Huambo about the EPP programme and demonstrations of stove production. They tried their hand at producing charcoal briquettes and posed many technical questions.
At Frontline Institute, the guests learned about the work with the forest management and charcoal project, about the participating communities, tree planting, tree nurseries, Community Action Groups and training for traditional leaders. They visited the vegetable garden and the nursery with more than 3000 plants as well as tree saplings to distribute in nearby communities. At TTS ADPP Huambo, the students had prepared a display of drawings from a primary school drawing competition on the environment, and they explained about the microprojects they carry out during long-term teaching practice.
