Earth Day 2023
Our determination to build community resilience has only been strengthened by the recent devastation inflicted by Cyclone Freddy in southern Malawi.
Young women are taking the lead in climate change activities so that we can help our communities get prepared with each and every [extreme weather] event that is coming towards us.
Malumbo, CAMFED Association member and climate-smart agriculture expert, Malawi
Malumbo is a CAMFED Association member, climate-smart agriculture expert, and the CAMFED District Operations Officer for Mwanza, Malawi. She has recorded her reflections on the impact of Cyclone Freddy and the importance of young women’s leadership and responsiveness for their communities.
“As CAMFED Association members, we’ve been working towards supporting people so that they can rebuild their lives. We have been contributing clothes, money and food stuffs.
We are helping children in schools to learn about climate change by helping them to know which ways we can use to mitigate climate change, such as planting trees… And we are also working with different stakeholders in our communities who are also helping by sensitizing in the communities.”
Read Malumbo's storyYour donation can help us reach girls, women, and community members whose lives and livelihoods have been torn apart by Cyclone Freddy.
Mrs Diana Pazah, the CAMFED Teacher Mentor at a secondary school in Mufindi district, Tanzania, shared photos of a tree-planting exercise that she led alongside Leah and Tegemeo, CAMFED Association Learner Guides, with the support of the Head Teacher.
CAMFED-supported secondary students got involved in planting young avocado trees close to their school to create a greener environment.
The benefits of planting trees are widespread and include preventing soil erosion, particularly in times of flooding.
Naomi (pictured, on the right) is a CAMFED Association leader and Agriculture Guide, growing our climate-smart teaching farm in Zambia’s Chinsali District. She decided to get involved in this project to help bolster food security for her community in the face of changing weather patterns.
“At the farm I work with 14 other Agriculture Guides where we share different roles and do a lot of activities. We have a role planting the crops, applying fertilizers or manure to the crops, feeding the livestock, harvesting the crops. We operate and maintain farm machinery like wheelbarrows, tricycles, solar panels… We also train smallholders in sustainable farming techniques. We support the communities to adapt to the effects of climate change and improve their yields.”
Read Naomi's story
We will be rallying around partner communities - especially disadvantaged children of school-going age - for whom the cyclone is another crushing blow on top of the cholera outbreak.
Research shows that girls and women excluded from education are more likely to suffer injury or death in climate-disasters; and for women farming or running rural businesses, the effects of climate change are layered on top of the existing resource and productivity gaps that they face. Investing in girls’ education and women’s leadership is one of the most powerful ways of tackling the climate emergency.
I support vulnerable rural residents to build resilience in the face of the global climate change emergency – by sharing knowledge and strategies on how to address the impacts we face in rural Zimbabwe. Through this training, I equip households to adapt to climate-related challenges such as increased incidences of extreme weather events.
Tanya Canier $5.6
Mahek Tulsiani $16.1
Henry Delorey $31.9
Alexis Hacker $25
Kathleen Benedict $13
Sarah Daniels $5
Zoe Landers $26.6
Doinita Necoara $5.6
Catherine Griffith $52.9
Karin Bjornson $21.5
Sandra Graves $5.6
Angela Cloutier $15
Jill Davis $20
John Lister $21.4
Jerrilee Muegge $5
