If you have ever looked closely at a chicken, one of the first things you notice is the fleshy red crest on top of its head. This is called the comb, and it is not just decoration. The chicken comb plays an important role in temperature regulation, overall health, communication, and even reproduction. This article… Read More Why Chickens Have Combs
Imagine a maize farmer in Sesheke, in Zambia’s Western Province. Let’s call her Martha. She has a good harvest this year, bags of maize stored neatly, ready for sale. But there’s a problem: the local market is saturated, prices are low, and buyers are slow to pay. Just across the border in Namibia, however, traders… Read More How ID Based Travel Between Botswana, Namibia and Zambia Could Transform Opportunities for Zambian Farmers
Under the relentless midday sun, 62-year-old Chomba bends over, weeding his maize field, his back protesting with each movement. He’s been farming this land since he was 18, but these days, the work feels heavier. His sons? They left for Lusaka years ago. “Farming is for old men,” they told him. Chomba isn’t alone. Across… Read More Are Zambian Farmers Getting Too Old?
In the 2023/2024 farming season, Zambia’s fields literally felt the burn. A harsh regional drought slashed maize production down to 1.5 million metric tonnes, leaving the country with a heartbreaking deficit of over 2.1 million tonnes. And yet, despite planting more than 2.2 million hectares, the rain just didn’t play along.
With the amount of rain we’ve received lately, you could be looking for a solution to save your farm from waterlogging. You may even have been expecting and praying for high rainfall this season for the proper growth of your crops. But, it seems the blessings are too much for the crops to handle.
Most Zambians have vegetable gardens at home. Did you know that preparing your vegetable garden soil is an important first step to successfully growing your own food? You can’t have healthy, productive veggies without rich soil that allows the roots to grow deep enough to soak up nutrients. Here are a few things you need to do… Read More How to prepare the soil for a vegetable garden
Unlike dogs and other domesticated animals, cats will always have a natural wild side. Just because they spend hours lounging beside a sunny window does not mean that cats won’t go after your feathered animals. Hunting is their primary purpose, therefore, cats may well be attracted to the lively frolics that a flock of chickens… Read More How To Protect Your Chickens From Cats
Crop rotation is the practice of growing different crops throughout the year, or from one year to the next, in order to improve soil fertility, control pests, and a variety of other benefits. Most small-scale Zambian farmers are seasonal farmers, therefore, do not practice crop rotation. They use pesticides, fertilizers, and herbicides.
You wake up at the crack of dawn to work on your farm, the fall of dusk, every day. The weather also has its own plans and seems to be against you. Sometimes you feel like your buyers have made you their prisoner, and you’re working for nothing. Well, you’re not alone! Even though most… Read More 50 Tips for Successful Farming
Soya beans are a type of plant called legumes which have the unique ability to use nitrogen that is in the air. Microorganisms that live on the soya bean roots convert atmospheric nitrogen into a type that the plant can use. The plant then feeds the microorganism. When the plant decays, the nitrogen that has… Read More Frequently asked questions about soya beans