Across East Africa the first growing season of the year is well underway. In South Sudan specifically, vegetable seeds were recently sewn in nurseries and then transplanted into gardens. We are happy to report that gardens are underway!
In South Sudan, we are partnering with Women Relief Aid, a grassroots, women-led NGO based in Juba, that provides humanitarian assistance and community development throughout underserved communities in the country.
In Torit, Eastern Equatoria State, we are supporting community-wide food security via ‘community club gardens,’ ran and managed by young people in rural households. These community club gardens support more than just vegetable production and food security for those at-risk of economic, conflict, and environmental-related shocks: they strengthen community and inter-communal resource sharing, promote solidarity, and create a learning network for climate-smart agricultural practices.
In this project, 100 club members are receiving an intensive training of vegetable production, climate-smart agriculture practices, and crop diversification. Preference for training participation is based upon need, and the majority of our trainees are at-risk teenage mothers.
These young women have been managing the community club gardens throughout Torit county. Community members receive guidance and training from the trained club members, making these gardens a hub for community learning and knowledge sharing.
Through this program, a ripple effect of increased vegetable production will spread across these communities.
As the growing season continues, training progresses, and harvests begin, we can’t wait to share more progress updates with you!
Thank you for supporting projects like this one. Remember – East Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 40 years, making garden projects all the more important. At SPI, we believe that we all deserve to have enough food on our tables to feed our loved ones.
If you would like to support our programs, please visit our Donation page: https://seedprograms.org/donate-now/ or visit our Ways to Support SPI page to learning about other opportunities to support SPI: https://seedprograms.org/ways-to-support-spi/.
