Permaculture Institute Paradise recognizes and values the important role which Lead farmers play in delivering extension services in Agriculture . Therefore we decided to introduce Lead Farmer Trainings as a way of improving the transmission as well adoption of agriculture knowledge, skills and technologies to farmers . The training targets lead farmers in different communities. Through the trainings, we will be able to easily transfer permaculture knowledge and skills to a large group of farmers in different communities across the country.
We are excited to report that we are now conducting our very first Lead Farmer training. We have started off with 20 lead farmers. The training is being conducted at our Permaculture Paradise demonstration farm in Madisi. During the training, the lead farmers will be initiated to set up their own field demonstration farms. This will be a way of demonstrating to them that what they are being taught is practical and that it can be done by everyone else.
Through our demonstration farm, we will be demonstrating to the lead farmers that a hunger free Malawi is possible. After the training, the lead farmers will be able to pass on the knowledge and skills to farmers in their communities. In this way, we will be able to reach 180 more farmers. The farmers will then be initiated to start their own farms. In doing so, we will be one step closer in achieving food and nutrition security. We believe that together we can create a Malawi that is hunger free.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to COR and VBC for their support. COR runs a project which aims at building capacity of small scale farmers on Permaculture home garden design. They provide technical support on the implementation of the gardens as well as daily supervision visits in order to provide the farmers with support on the maintenance of the gardens, harvesting, post-harvest handling as well as value addition and marketing. They also provide the farmers with starter pack tools, seeds, seedlings, animals and a composting toilet. VBC has committed to supporting projects in Malawi for three years.
