Zambia, 2009

Community gardens are gaining momentum across this country as people stretch budgets and eat healthier by growing their own food. But in rural Zambia where people live off the land, it is more than critical that each family grows their own food. Their lives depend upon it.

Like it does for a young man named Flank.

Flank can be found walking behind a plow tilling the soil. If you ask him how he’s doing, he will say, “Fine, now. But it wasn’t always this way.”

Not long ago, Flank and his family lived with his uncle. Like many people in Luano, Zambia, Flank did not own property, so he could not sustain a steady income by farming. He worked odd jobs to make ends meet, but were it not for his uncle, Flank’s family would have been destitute.

Outreach International began working with the Luano community, and Flank became interested in what he was hearing. The organized group identified the community problems: a lack of livelihood, a lack of skills and education, difficulty in accessing help from authorities, and of course, a lack of land that would have sustained them.

Flank joined the group and learned what local resources were available. They found out that land was given by the government through the village chief to expand the district. Outreach International helped the group learn to clearly petition their requests to the chief. Flank was one of the first to learn to present the needs of the group.

The months of research and training worked. A large parcel of land was acquired and each family received a plot including Flank who received his own land.
Flank was thrilled. He wanted a fishpond and a vegetable garden. He wanted his own home. He wanted to sell vegetables and fish to buy other needed items.

The land needed much work, and the community group learned skills to restore the soil, to plant, to dig a pond and stock it with fish. It wasn’t a simple matter of acquiring the land. It was learning to nurture it so that it would in turn nurture the crops to ensure the community’s survival.

Now Flank and his family live in their own home on their own land, with plenty to eat, and are generating income by selling their vegetables and fish. Flank grew enough food to supply the local hospital. His five tilapia and catfish ponds generate stock for other family fish ponds.

Nearby communities are noticing, too. The Luano group is proud to teach what they have learned to others.

Now, 6000 people in Luano, Zambia are growing their own food on their own land. As a result, they are ensuring their family’s futures and ensuring that the land will continue to sustain them.