Agriculture
Agriculture
With the sustainability of the school project in mind, ADH as undertaken an agricultural project. Income from the agriculture should contribute long-term to finance the school operations. Currently domestic agricultural products are grown on a total area of 10 hectares and are sold at local markets. This helps the food-poor region and creates new jobs. The agricultural project also provides opportunities to involve the local community with the school project and teaches them to take personal responsibility for the school in Mushapo. The professional cultivation can also serve in the future for practical training.
Jan
2023
ADH has two new promising projects in the pipeline
Our plan for 2023 is to build two Vocational Training Centers in two different locations, fulfilling a long-time dream! We are planning to train young adults from each of these areas in a one-year course to learn a trade along the lines of agriculture, including animal husbandry, fish farming, beekeeping etc. At the end of their training, each graduate will receive a package with seeds, possibly a baby animal, and – thus equipped – will return to their village to open up their own workplace with what they have learned in our Centers. One project will be overseen by Jean who has been our local project manager since 2011. The Center will be located east of Kinshasa, on the Plateau de Bateke. The other project will be headed by Joseph, whom we have known since the beginning of our activities in the Congo in 2003. This Center will be located in Nsioni, almost 500 km west of Kinshasa, towards the Atlantic Ocean. Both men have done well with our recent microfinance projects, which gives us confidence that these two new projects should work out satisfactorily as well.
Jun
2022
Waiting for the state to take over the financing of school operations
Thanks to your faithful support, all the students in our Agro-Veterinary School in Mabala keep receiving their education and training. So far, the Congolese Ministry of Education does not pay any teachers in new secondary schools like ours. However, since we want to give our students the opportunity to attend our school free of charge, we continue to pay the teachers’ salaries ourselves. Once the state takes over with that, we can start another project. We appreciate your help so we can keep the school running and give the students a better chance for their future.
Dec
2021
L'enseignement agricole en pratique
Le directeur de l’école, l’agronome Philémon, a également lancé un nouveau projet avec les élèves de la section agricole devant les bâtiments de l’école, où ils plantent des légumes et où chacun doit s’occuper de sa propre parcelle de terrain.
Apr
2021
The acacia and palm nut trees have grown and can now be planted
Our school director Philemon continued to oversee the work on the acacia and palm nut tree nurseries. The students have now been able to plant the first batches of trees on our field around the school. Two hectares of cassava, the main staple food in the Congo, have also been planted. After many similar previous ventures in Mushapo, all of which we unfortunately had to stop due to theft, this is a long-awaited dream that is gradually coming true for us. It will still take years before the palm trees yield fruit, but the beginning has been made. PIREDD, the organization that initiated this project and donated 1,000 seeds for each tree type, is supporting the school in the implementation of the project with a small contribution, in addition to our funding for the teachers.
Dec
2020
Agriculture on the school grounds means hands-on learning
We are supporting the efforts of the teachers to plant manioc and because the students receive free schooling, they are helping with this agricultural project. The land belongs to our school, and so we encourage the teachers and students to grow more and more food to support the school. This also gives the students hands-on-training while the raising of chickens and rabbits continues to help them to learn how to care for such animals.
Nov
2020
Donation of seeds for 1000 acacia trees for the outer borders of our property in Mabala
A local organization, PIREDD, supported by the World Bank, has seen the potential of our land and donated 1,100 seedlings for a palm oil plantation. And when they saw how capable our agronom and school director Philemon handled this project, they offered another 1,000 acacia tree seedlings to be planted around the borders of our property.
Jul
2020
Expansion of our agricultural project to include a palm oil plantation thanks to the UNO support programme
PIREDD, part of the “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation” project, a UN supported program, saw the potential the potential of our agricultural project with an area of 40 hectares of land. Through this support program, the "Agro-Veterinary School ITAV ADH Mabala" was sponsored 1100 palm nuts, which will grow into seedlings and be planted on 7 hectares of our property. Our teachers and students will have to take care of this palm oil plantation, planting, watering etc. Agronom and school director Philemon started a little nursery with his helpers for growing the seedlings. The proceeds from the sale of the products belong to the school and should help to support it in the future.
May
2020
Agricultural project in Mabala contributes to school maintenance
In order to improve the teachers' salaries, we started an agricultural project around the school buildings, which so far works better than the previous such programmes, as in Mushapo. Thanks to our headmaster, the excellent agronomist Philemon, the agricultural project is making good progress. He also initiated a small chicken and rabbit farm, which now has 43 chickens and 4 rabbits. As the photo shows, our chickens and rabbits were regularly fed by our students before the "lockdown" due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
