No healthy soil, no food

Soil fertility improvement in the communal garden of Nkomonye community

The communal garden in Nkomonye faces significant challenges due to its mountainous terrain and susceptibility to erosion. The sloping land, coupled with conventional rainfall patterns, leads to high runoff, which results in soil erosion, loss of nutrients, and inadequate soil moisture retention. These factors severely impact crop yields, especially maize and beans, which are grown on rain-fed land. As a result, the yield from the 2-hectare farm remains low, with an estimated 8 bags of maize harvested annually. The high intensity of rainfall exacerbates erosion, creating rills, sheets, and gullies that damage crops and further degrade the land. This fragile farming environment requires improved soil conservation, water management practices, and more sustainable farming techniques to enhance productivity and resilience against climatic challenges.
Key issues contributing to the poor yield include:
• Soil erosion: Loss of topsoil and nutrients due to high rainfall intensity and runoff.
• Low soil moisture retention: Sloping land causes faster runoff, limiting the amount of moisture retained in the soil.
• Nutrient deficiency: The fertility of the soil is compromised by erosion and inadequate fertilization practices, despite the use of 12 bags of fertilizer annually.
• Limited knowledge and capacity: While 32 OVC families benefit from the demonstration site, more education on sustainable farming practices, soil management, and erosion control is needed.
The overall challenge is to improve the productivity of the land while managing the environmental stressors that limit crop growth and soil health.

The traditional purpose of the garden is to grow food for the local National Care Points (NCP), but productivity has become low, due to the above mentioned reasons. Intercedes Youth Empowerment (IYE) , a youth lead community based organisation, wants to change that through capacity building in and application of sustainable agriculture practices, which shall prove that production can be increased without applying chemicals.
IYE has defined the following objectives:
1. Improve soil fertility using restorative plants and animal manure.
2. Building technical skills and knowledge of farmers (20) and local extension workers (Ministry of Agriculture) in conservation agriculture by providing workshops and by applying what was learned in the communal garden.
3. Enhance capacity at all levels (individuals, community) for the promotion of conservation agricultural practices leading to an enabling environment for sustainability of the project and further spreading of the method.

Project site

Shiselweni region / Methula constituency / Nkomonye community (Map)

Beneficiaries

Direct beneficiaries:
Men (farmers): 10
Women (farmers): 10
Children under age 16 (food provision at NCP): 172

Project costs and assistance by sahee

The entire project costs are CHF 9’400.–. The project is fully financed by sahee.

sahee stays in regular contact with the project leaders, monitors the activities and visits the project on site once a year.

Duration of assistance

1st of April 2025 to 31st of March 2026

Local counterpart

Intercedes Youth Empowerment