© 2007 AID AFRICA UK Registered Charity
Number 1116336
More than 600 local volunteers partner with us to feed the vulnerable, but most who
work in our OHP Community Gardens are poor themselves – many don’t have shoes, and
often face hunger.
In the past, in an attempt to help,
we’ve loaned hundreds of them quality early-maturing maize seed and fertilizer for
their own fields - their only way of feeding their families. The loan was repaid
by returning a bag of maize at harvest-time, to OHP, for free distribution to those
in acute need. The Programme worked quite well, but re-affirmed our view of over-dependence
on fertilizer - a very expensive commodity in Malawi, way beyond the reach of most
subsistence farmers - so without it they despair.
Our vision is to greatly increase production of manure, to improve soil quality and
therefore yield, progressively over a 3-year period. Included in this plan is the
supply of legume seeds (peas or beans) planted for food, but they are also invaluable
to fix nitrates back into the soil.
