Mambanje Community Garden
Food scarcity and hunger remain massive challenges for many of the communities where we operate. The shortage of water, low levels of rainfall during the rainy season, and poor soil conditions make the planting and harvesting of a variety of crops increasingly difficult for communities in the Hwange area.
Our community-run garden in Mambanja is equipping, empowering, and enabling the community to grow and produce crops that they can harvest to feed their families and sell to generate economic activities for themselves. The garden is well equipped with a solar-powered borehole which allows for an adequate water supply for the garden. The 28 families that are using the garden are collectively running its upkeep.
About our Project
We started the Mambanje Garden in 2018. The garden has 50 beds 3x3m that can support about 50 families. 20% of the produce that is harvested in the garden is used for commercial purposes. The other 80% is used for subsistence farming. The crops that are currently growing in the garden include tomatoes, onions, okra, vegetables, and lemongrass. We installed the boreholes and solar power in the garden to ensure that the garden has an adequate water supply and fences the property.
The recent installation of drip irrigation in the garden is improving the flow of water to all of the beds in the garden which has increased the harvest and allows the community to sell additional products to make an income. The soil assessments and harvesting training that was done in 2022 at the garden identified the best crops that can grow in that soil and educated and empowered the community on how to make the best use of the garden by planting crops that will grow faster and healthier. This garden continues to add educational and economic benefits for the community through training and shifting their focus from subsistence farming to more commercial farming.
The garden is currently full of life with a mix of tomato, cabbage, peppers, beans, and choumoellier. In 2023, we will be providing additional garden tools, seeds, and resources to assist and building a tool shed for the storage of the equipment.
Total spending for 2022: $5,000
Total projected costs for 2023: $6,400
