In Zambia, an estimated 35 percent of Zambian children under age 5 are stunted due to malnutrition. Stunting impairs a child's physical growth and development and increases the chance of repeated infection. Stunting is also associated with lower mental development, poor educational performance, and lifelong challenges that limit economic and social development.
Like many women small-scale farmers in Zambia, Gladys Chama supports her family financially, and makes food security and nutrition decisions for the welfare of her home. In 2019, Gladys was working hard tilling, planting, and harvesting her 0.25 hectares of vegetables, mostly tomatoes and cabbage. She often traveled hundreds of kilometers to buy vegetable seedlings; however, due to the high cost of seedlings, pesticides, fertilizer, and labor, she struggled to break even and expand her production.
Gladys needed support to make her agricultural efforts more successful and profitable. With encouragement from staff at the Zambia Ministry of Agriculture, she took part in the USAID Scaling Up Nutrition Technical Assistance (SUN TA)’s vegetable production training at Chalubemba Primary School in Zambia's Ndola District. During the four-day training, Gladys learned farming techniques including double digging, mulching, organic manure use, natural pesticide use, and crop rotation.
Gladys picked up and used the new methods quickly; her commitment paid off.
In 2019, prior to USAID SUN TA’s training, Gladys made a net profit of ZMW 2,000.00. In 2020, after her training and support, she made a net profit of ZMW 4,000.00 —a 100 percent increase in one year.
“The training and support I received really helped me improve my production. Previously, I used to buy vegetable seedlings from very far but now I’m able to raise my own seedlings. I also used to spend a lot of money buying inorganic fertilizers and pesticides," says Emily. "Now I use a lot of organic manure and natural pesticides that I learned about during the training and this has greatly contributed to reducing production expenses and has resulted in improvements in my household.”
Gladys’ inherent leadership led her to step up as a Lead Farmer in her community. She led the establishment of a central community garden to showcase best practices and share knowledge with surrounding farmers, also known as SUN Follower Farmers. So far, 15 Follower Farmers have participated in Gladys’ training at the community garden and 7 of them have adopted and applied the techniques in their gardens.
Gladys is an important leader in her community, challenging malnutrition in her home and at the community level.
At home, her improved farming practice supports a wider variety of vegetables and nutrients, and her cash income provides additional food such as animal-sourced foods like meat, poultry, fish, and eggs to supplement the family’s diet.
Gladys’ hard work and commitment is contributing towards better nutrition for her entire community, which has a high prevalence of malnutrition and stunting. During the 2021 growing season, Gladys plans to expand her portfolio. She will grow and sell affordable, accessible vegetable seedlings to surrounding communities. She also plans to increase the number of vegetable types that are both nutritious and marketable in the area including: amaranthus, beans, carrots, eggplant, orange sweet potatoes, rape, and swiss chard. Gladys expects these new enterprises to more than double her 2020 income and support diversification in her community’s diet.
At the end of 2020, USAID SUN TA, in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, had trained 62 Lead Farmers in 12 wards across the Ndola District: Chichele, Kabushi, Kaloko, Kaniki, Kantolomba, Kawama, Mapalo, Mushili, Munkulungwe, Nkwazi, Pamodzi, and Skyways. With a focus on reducing stunting in children under two years of age, USAID SUN TA provides Lead Farmers, like Gladys, with training on vegetable production techniques and provides them with start-up materials such as vegetable seeds, organic fertilizers, seedling trays and vegetable reference materials.
Winfred Mwale for USAID SUN TA