Zambia
Mbabala Women Farmers’ Cooperative Union Natural Agriculture Project

Zambia is a landlocked country in southern Africa surrounded by nine other countries. More than half of the population relies on agriculture growing cash crops such as maize, sorghum, and cassava. However, despite occasional surpluses, the food supply in Zambia remains unstable and climate change is having an adverse effect with drought, reduced rainfall, flooding, and high temperatures leading to shortfalls in crop production and lower economic growth.

The Mbabala Women Farmers' Co-operative Union (MBAWOFA) works with farmers aimed at improving women's household status and income through their involvement in agriculture in rural Zambia. In 2004 the Co-operative partnered with Shumei to establish a Natural Agriculture project, which began with twenty farm families setting up demonstration farmland to grow maize and other crops implementing Natural Agriculture. This meant minimum intervention in the growing process such as the use of indigenous seeds; saving seeds; the cultivation of soil in its natural state without additional elements, i.e. fertilizers or manure; and a comprehensive understanding of the role of insects, neighboring plants and weeds and how to maintain their balance without the use of any pesticides or herbicides.

The project was very successful and more farm families have joined and are practicing Natural Agriculture. Shumei’s partnership with the Mbabala Women Farmers’ Co-operative Union has been recognized by the UN-NGO-IRENE Best Practices Network and the Zambia Natural Agriculture project has been featured as a success story on their website devoted to organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations. Shumei also participated in the 2008 ECOSOC Innovation Fair to display our best practices in sustainable development highlighting the Zambia project.

To read more about this project, please view our case study on the UN-NGO-IRENE Best Practices Network website.