Southern Africa Affiliates
Regional Overview
In a region ranging from forest and grassland to desert, mountains, and coast, Southern Africa has a vast array of cultures, languages, and heritage. Yet, in the midst of such grandeur and diversity, HIV/AIDS decimates the whole of Southern Africa with the highest infection and death rates in the world.
Partners Worldwide walks alongside people in Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zambia to strengthen businesses and create jobs, yet all partnerships reflect the reality of HIV/AIDS. Each partnership utilizes an economic component that helps entrepreneurs and businesspeople leverage their gifts and strengths in order to reduce rates of HIV/AIDS through tools such as mentoring relationships, business training, and a sustainable business approach to overcome this epidemic.
Zambia - Farmer to Farmer
Chipata
At the grassroots of Zambia, Farmer-to-Farmer has empowered subsistence farmers in a post-socialist climate to emerge as small-scale entrepreneurs and to strengthen the private sector. Local champions are identified within Farmer-to-Farmer to serve as mentors and to offer training in technical farming skills to those who raise maize, groundnuts, cassava, sorghum, and vegetable gardens. In partnership with Food Resource Bank, CRWRC, and the Reformed Church of Zambia-Diaconia Department, Partners Worldwide walks alongside those who share the vision to emerge from poverty to food sufficiency within three years. Since the partnership began in 2000, over 24,000 families have transitioned from food deficiency to surplus.
Stories
Subsistence to Sustainable Farming
Sunday July 25, 2010
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Edith Banda never expected to be a mentor to her neighbors when it came to using farming as business. When her husband died in 1991, she moved with her four daughters to her home village. For years, she tried to produce enough food and raise income to support her family and send her girls to school, but there was never enough. She relied solely on maize and groundnuts for the family’s daily food and income. As hard as she tried, hunger and money were constant problems.
Farmer that receives also gives back
Sunday July 25, 2010
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John Mwanza has always been a farmer, but never satisfied his goal to farm profitably. His yields were always average or below average and he didn’t know how to increase them. It was a daily struggle for John, whose family of five was often hit hard during the “hunger months” of December through March. He also faced another well-known challenge—sending his children to school.
In 2007, a friend told John about a farming program he had recently joined through the Reformed Church of Zambia’s Diaconia, an affiliate of Partners Worldwide. With nothing to lose, John decided to join in.