Makonka Village is the most isolated of our pilot projects, situated 50km from the nearest urban settlement along very poor seasonally-accessible bush roads. Economic development in this community has been stifled by limited attention from the government and NGOs due to difficulties in vehicular access.
The village has a small school, but limited funding and places have resulted in a large number of youths stuck outside of the education system. Issues are compounded by limited provision of healthcare in the community; the local rural health center built during Kenneth Kaunda’s nationalization efforts in the 1970s has since been abandoned.
Despite challenges, Makonka boasts boundless opportunities in agriculture due to a significant reservoir adjacent to the village - this forms the backbone of our Makonka Community Impact Projects and Social Enterprise planning. Currently the reservoir’s role in irrigation is limited to the distance a child can carry a bucket.
We are fundraising for the game-changing installation of a solar-powered irrigation pump that will enable the rich water resources to be put to use in irrigating huge swathes of currently untouched arable land - which in a landmark moment has been designated for use by out-of-school youths participating in our program by the Makonka Village Headmen.
The new irrigation system will be deployed alongside extensive training in agricultural practices, with an emphasis on developing full permaculture systems - this includes specialized training in the production of natural fertilizers, organic pest and disease control practices, and soil regeneration. Finally, we will be funding a full year's worth of agricultural inputs for use by our participant youths.
Our hope is that by working hand-in-hand with the Makonka community we can massively improve the agricultural yields of the village and kick-start a new generation of well-trained and economically-empowered young farmers through seed-funding of a youth agricultural enterprise.
