The ongoing drought in Zambia is having critical consequences on agriculture, water, energy, and food security, affecting millions of people. Sinazongwe District is among the worst-hit of the 84 districts in Zambia.
This drought has impacted the most vulnerable and marginalized communities, including women and children who rely on agriculture for survival.
These families are struggling to have three meals a day and maintain their household income. However, for Linah Ndangwa of Sipumina Village in Sinazongwe District, she has taken advantage of the water available in the Sibbe Stream in Maamba to practice gardening as a resilience strategy to support her family.
Married with eight children, Ms. Ndangwa has a large garden near the Sibbe Stream where she has planted various vegetables.
She is able to harvest every day to sell at the market or to marketeers on a wholesale basis, making between K150 – K200 per day.
As a member of the Kuzunda savings group, which was trained by CEJ in business skills, she recalls that CEJ taught her to be creative as an entrepreneur in searching for business ideas, emphasizing that farming is a business.
She is able to take her children to school, feed them, and pay hospital bills for her family. She is a dedicated member of her savings group and saves every week.
Ms. Ndangwa works very hard every day in her garden, planting, watering, and protecting her field from animals such as goats, pigs, and cattle.
Through her savings, she is able to buy and plant more vegetable seeds in her garden.
