Peace Parks Foundation’s mission is to reconnect and restore transboundary protected landscapes in southern Africa. Supporting and uplifting communities that live around protected areas is crucial to making this mission a reality, and one way we are doing this is through sustainable land management practices.
Funded by the German Development Bank (KfW) and implemented by Peace Parks in collaboration with communities and Malawi’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife, Peace Parks is helping communities thrive. On the eastern boundary of Nyika National Park in Malawi, locally responsive and resourceful conservation agriculture is being driven by local women.
Peace Parks, together with the NGO Total LandCare and a KfW delegation, attended a woman-led meeting of community farmer groups to listen to the progress they are making with their sustainable conservation agriculture activities. The group was given a showcase of one particularly resourceful initiative: homemade fertiliser.
The fertiliser is made with goat dung that is matured for three weeks, ground down, and sieved for impurities before being mixed with ash and water and loaded into large sacks. Once ready, the fertiliser is used to boost crop growth and replenish soils for the next harvest.
By supporting locally responsive and resourceful ideas like this and helping communities bring their products to market, Peace Parks is vitally equipping those living on the boundaries of protected areas. Resilience through a conservation-enabled economy is key to the long-term self-sustainability of small-scale farmers and to protecting, restoring, and reconnecting protected habitats and ecosystems.
Programmes that strengthen the resilience and adaptability of communities living in proximity to protected areas are made possible thanks to generous funding support from our incredible donors, such as KfW. Visit peaceparks.org/get-involved now to discover the many ways you too can empower female farmers into the future and ensure conservation at scale thrives.
