NST HQ Demo Day

On May 3rd North Swaka Trust held its first Climate-smart Farming Demo Day at the new HQ site bordering on the North Swaka Forest Reserve. It was great to welcome our Chitina farming groups as well as representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture and Twala Farming.

NST’s Climate-smart Farming Programme (also known as conservation or regenerative farming) is implemented in partnership with Foundations Zambia. Following the Foundations for Farming model, farming groups are trained in climate-smart methods including mulch, compost, crop rotation and minimum tillage. They also receive finance training to help them manage their money and grow their businesses. Farming groups that commit to the climate-smart farming programme are given the opportunity to participate in other livelihood activities including beekeeping, cover crops, village nurseries and community banking.

Demo Days are a key part of the training NST’s farming groups receive, they provide a practical learning opportunity for group members and a setting in which to ask questions, learn more about climate-smart farming techniques and share new ideas. In a year of wide-spread drought and crop failures, climate-smart farming methods have shown that planting on-time, using mulch, compost, crop rotation and minimum tillage can significantly increase crop resilience, ensuring household food security even in years of extensive dry spells and drought.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our first of many HQ Demo Days.