pp_zambia
pp_zambia_2

Past Projects: Zambia

Southern Africa Drought Technology Network (Sadnet)

Where:

Southern Africa: Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique

Who:

  • CHF
  • Zimbabwe: Southern Alliance for Indigenous Resources (SAFIRE)
  • Zambia: CARE (interim)
  • Malawi: Civil Society Network on Agriculture (CISANET)
  • Mozambique: CARE (interim)

Funded by:

CHF, SAFIRE, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

Purpose:

Help farmers in drought-prone areas of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi access vital information about growing and selling food in this harsh environment.

Situation:

Many of these farmers — women and men — face extremely difficult growing conditions, and work and live in very remote areas. Since many communities have limited ways of communicating with each other, it’s difficult for them to share their expertise about crop production under drought conditions. Isolated from markets, they are virtually unaware of the fair price for their produce.

Results:

Farmers are better able to share their expertise in growing food. Farmers are also communicating with specialists – university researchers and development practitioners — about their most pressing problems, so that these specialists can come up with appropriate solutions. As well, accessing market information, they can negotiate better prices for their crops.

  • Awarded the Yeoman’s Award for Local Content for Africa.
  • Increased incomes. In Maunganidze, Zimbabwe, improved tomato yields resulting from production techniques documented through SADNET resulted in 40% more income for farmers.
  • Produced and distributed 27 publications focused on farming production or marketing
  • In Zambia, videos, manuals, a web site and radio broadcasts were made available in the local language.
  • Eight institutions were connected to e-mail, while advice was given to another 30 institutions on how to install and use Internet and e-mail
  • SADNET now has 45 partners, and has increased its reach from an initial 6,000 to 15,000 community members.