Native Youth Animators for Development has equipped 20 teen mothers in Nsanje District with farming skills to manage backyard gardens to build their resilience against economic hardships.
The day-long orientation at Jeke Community-Based Childcare Centre in Traditional Authority Malemia in the district tackled areas such as preparation of nutritious meals, the importance of feeding children six food groups and permaculture farming approaches.
The organisation’s executive director Jonas January said they also taught the girls how to produce compost manure using kitchen waste and crop residues.
The girls follow a presentation. | Martin Gela Jnr
He said: “It is a new project as part of the interventions targeting adolescent and teen mothers aged between 15 and 19 who are mentees at Jeke Village. We want to empower them economically and improve their nutrition and well-being through backyard garden. It is our hope that these teen mothers should recover from the effects of disasters they went through.”
Zunde Extension Planning Area agriculture extension development officer Flyton Flyton said the teen mothers acquired skills on how to manage backyard gardens.
He said vegetable production was a lucrative business that could empower the girls economically.
A participant, Yana Kalonga, 19, from Jeke Village said as teen mothers, they have a task to feed their children with nutritious food, which include vegetables and fruits.
“The backyard gardens will also be a source of income from vegetable and fruit sales,” she said.
Another participant Steria James, 18, from Jeke Village, said the training was informative as she learned about food security, nutrition, site selection, soil preparation, seed selection, planting techniques and compost manure production.
With funding from UK-based Hilden Charitable Fund, the organisation is implementing a two-year project dubbed Empowering Affected Girls by Disasters in the district.
