In the early 1990’s, renowned HIV/AIDS researcher Dr. Allan Ronald and his wife Myrna visited Allan’s sister Marian in northwestern Zambia, a region torn by recent strife in neighbouring Angola and suffering from the impact of HIV and AIDS. They witnessed the plight of orphans who had lost one or both parents to AIDS and who were often forced to fend for themselves. They visited the community of Chinema, where they found only children and elders. They also witnessed the determination of the elders to provide the children with a basic education, and experienced a “classroom” of children meeting under a tree, ranging in age from 6 to 16, all in Grade One. Inspired by their experience, Allan, Myrna and Marian offered to help two local communities, Chinema and Samafunda, in their efforts to set up day schools for orphans and vulnerable children who could not afford the tuition charged by the state-run schools. In partnership with the Manyinga Community Resource Centre, the Manyinga Project was launched.

In partnership with the local community, the Manyinga Project supported two schools, Grade One to Seven, at Chinema and Samafunda, small villages in the Manyinga region of Zambia.

Approximately 300 children are enrolled at Chinema, while the Sumafunda School typically enrols over 130 students. At these two schools, agriculture is integrated into the students’ education experience, helping them learn basic farming and gardening skills they can apply on their own land.

In a country where 85% of the population farms, many of the Manyinga students will need agricultural skills to support themselves. In most cases, children would learn farming techniques in the field at a parent’s side. But in a place where AIDS, malaria, and TB have decimated families, these skills may not be effectively passed on. With our support, the local community has implemented an innovative program to teach basic farming skills to the orphans and vulnerable children at the Manyinga schools.

An agronomist visits the schools one day per week, teaching the students basic farming and gardening skills. Students learn about timing and depth of seeding, the use of fertilizer and other crop inputs, efficient water use, weeding, and animal husbandry. Emphasis is on gardening among the lower grades and field crops among the higher grades. Everyone learns about animal husbandry and takes their turn to work with the goat herds. Students in higher grades also receive marketing training and entrepreneurship training integrated with their math classes.

In addition to the goal of providing these vulnerable children the skills necessary to become viable commercial farmers and successful gardeners, the output of the school’s farming and gardening efforts supplements the lunch program served at school, and generates income to support a portion of the schools’ operating costs.