Malawi, G.R.A.S.S. project: the first fruits of their work in the 30 community vegetable gardens in the south of the country
A day dedicated to talking about the first results achieved in the context of G.R.A.S.S. (Growth and Resilience in Agriculture for Sustainable Societies), a project of the Community of Sant’Egidio’s DREAM programme and the Slow Food Foundation for biodiversity. The Terra Madre Day, held on 30th April 2019 in Kapeni, Malawi, gave the farmers involved in the creation of 30 vegetable gardens in the south of the country the opportunity to present their products to the community and local institutions.
Over 200 farmers, mainly patients from the DREAM centres, who came from the 30 vegetable gardens set up in six districts in Malawi, took part in this event, which was called “Harnessing indigenous crops: adapting to climate change with traditional knowledge”. There were also some people from the Kapeni area, the village chief of Kapeni, the Crops Officer representing the District Agriculture Department, the District Nutrition officer and the District Education manager.
All the participants expressed their appreciation and great interest in the activities carried out and the results achieved. Thanks to the skills acquired by the people involved in the project, in the future this model can also spread and be applied to other areas of Malawi.
G.R.A.S.S. is a project that is supported by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation and its specific objective is to develop resilience to food insecurity. The protagonists and the beneficiaries are people with HIV who are assisted by the DREAM programme. They have been helped by agricultural experts to create community vegetable gardens, recover traditional produce and learn new techniques for cultivations that make it possible to fight food vulnerability linked to climate change.