Zimbabwe’s government, through the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Zim, targets to establish an ambitious 35 000 Farmer Field Schools (FFS-also commonly known as schools without walls) across the country.
FFSs offer small scale rural farmers an opportunity for life-changing participatory learning that addresses contemporary agricultural challenges.
Working together with ActionAid Zimbabwe and the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training, we are currently rolling out a model called the Participatory & Manageable Units of Scalable Household Activities, dubbed, PAMUSHA model (A philosophy of HH-driven rural agrarian transformation) designed to augment the government’s FFS initiative by empowering young women and girls in Mbire District to withstand climate shocks through support with equipment and agroecology knowledge for household-based (micro FFS) green & climate-smart income-generating alternatives.
Chiedza Hotera (26), our pick for today’s women (youth) champion of agroecology, has already shown us what this future looks like.
Her homestead is an example of a micro FFS that is built around permaculture gardening and poultry, demonstrating that #learningstartsathome.
The groundcover of the lush green spreading watermelons is not only beautiful but a living classroom showcasing soil protection, moisture retention, and climate-smart garden designing.
During this women month, let us back women‑led micro‑FFS initiatives (like Chiedza’s) and help scale climate‑smart learning to ALL (#leavenooneandnoplacebehind) of Zimbabwe’s 35K villages.
#StrategicPartnershipAgreement2 #PAMUSHA #BudiriroInotangiraPAMUSHA #FFS #WomenEmpowerment #SPA2
