The Western Province of Zambia is home to more than one million people (1.3 million according to the 2022 population census), more than 80% of whom depend on subsistence farming. It is the poorest of Zambia’s ten provinces*. 

Edmund Rice Development has supported projects in Western Province since 2016, when their implementing partner, the Congregation of the Christian Brothers, first moved into the area to live and work alongside the poor. With Misean Cara funding, the project takes a multi-faceted, rights-based approach to tackling the root causes of poverty in the Province.

Farming is the main source of income for most families, who grow crops such as corn, rice and cabbage. The soil is rich but climate change is making erratic rainfall a problem with long-term implications for farmers and their families. A traditional lack of crop diversity also makes farmers and their incomes more vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

Through its current two-year project, the Christian Brothers work with over 2,200 subsistence farmers (1,400 women and 840 men) to improve their livelihoods and increase food and nutrition security for their families. Farmers are being trained in organic agriculture techniques to offset soil depletion and help improve yields. Farmers are also diversifying their crops, reducing their dependency on corn by intercropping with peas, groundnuts, sunflower and other crops that bring extra nutrients to the soil. The project team is also running practical courses in courses in business to help small-scale farmers earn more money for their produce, while mixed farming will enable them to diversify their income sources.

In addition, five boreholes are being drilled to provide water to 1,000 households. Families will have closer access to safe, clean drinking water, sparing many women and girls having to walk long distances to draw water. 

*Zambia Demographic and Health Survey, 2018 (Zambia Statistics Agency, 2020).