September 7, 2026
News
Three stories from Zambia: Nyandwi, Leya and Joseph are farmers and parents. Just like many others, they try to protect their soil from the impacts of climate change, partly so that they can support their children in studies and provide them with a more stable future. Caritas Czech Republic helped them gain knowledge and equipment to support their production during worsening climate conditions. As Nyandwi says, our organisation becomes a source of support for them and gives them hope for a brighter future.
I invest in my children’s education, so they can take care of me
Nyandwi is 52 years old and comes from Rwanda. He fled to Zambia together with his family in the 1990s, which is when he began farming. He grows rice, beans, and cassava. Thanks to the help from Caritas Czech Republic, he has expanded his harvest to include sweet potatoes and Irish potatoes.
Photo: Nyandwi has been farming since the 1990s
“Before I received support from Caritas, I used to do farming, but I had no knowledge of how I can improve it. Because the method of farming that I used was not the best,” Nyandwi explains. Apart from the above-mentioned seeds, he also obtained training, financial support, and a sprayer to treat crops with pesticides.
After Caritas trained me on different farming methods, I think it has improved my activities and allowed me to produce a lot of harvest. Caritas is like my parent now.
This enables Nyandwi to provide for his family more easily. Together with his wife, who came with him from Rwanda, they have five children together. Two daughters are married. Their only son is studying. “I am making sure I invest in their future so then they look after me when I retire,” says the farmer who uses his earnings to support their education.
Nyandwi’s wife faces medical difficulties, so she cannot help him with work on the field. Instead, she helps run the family business at the local markets. “That is why I am trying to work extra hard, so that I earn income that I can invest in the business,” concludes Nyandwi.
Due to droughts, they could not pay school fees
Leya came to Zambia from Burundi. She left her homeland together with her husband in the 1990s because of the civil war. They work together with their children, having no employees. They also support one child who is studying.
It pained us a lot, climate change affected us in so many ways. We have a child who is studying engineering at one of the universities in Zambia, and everything towards her school comes from what we do,
Leya says. Due to climate change impacts, the parents did not have enough funds to afford their daughter’s education. “We found ourselves in a situation where we had nowhere to get money because of the droughts.”
Photo: Leya supports her children in school
Then Caritas came with the support, along with training that gave the knowledge she needed to improve her harvest once again. “We did not have a lot of knowledge in terms of spacing. You would find each crop has a measurement. They taught us how to space tomatoes, everything,” Leya explains.
In the past, whenever she planted seeds, she was never able to grow enough crops. Thanks to Caritas’s support, however, their production has increased significantly. On the family farm, they now successfully grow tomatoes, maize and cabbage.
We are also taught how to keep chicken and poultry business.
Photo: Leya learns how to keep chicken
Father of twelve
Joseph was born in Zambia, but his parents come from Angola. He has a wife and twelve children – some of them live at home, some of them are studying. He is also supporting them in their education.
“I started alone without knowledge. When Caritas came, I was trained on crop production and which products are needed in which season because vegetables are seasonal,” Joseph says. Thanks to the newly gained knowledge, he knows which crops to grow, when to bring them to market, and when demand for them is highest.
Photo: Joseph is a father of twelve
During the training, he also learned the importance of rotating crops regularly to keep the soil healthy. One season, for example, he grows cabbage in a particular section of the field, and the next season, he replaces it with eggplant. Joseph also received financial support and equipment from us. A hose proved especially helpful, enabling him to improve his irrigation system.
I have been using my hands to take care of the garden, but sometimes I get tired, I am a human being. This system will help me, but not only me, but also other members with whom I do these farming activities. It will help us a lot to improve our gardens.
Photo: Joseph’s harvest
Caritas Czech Republic in Zambia
It is agriculture that is the source of income for many people in Zambia. We helped strengthen, for example, Samuel’s livelihood. Moreover, we focus on the development of commercial agriculture through the use of Czech mechanisation and agricultural technologies. We are also monitoring the situation in the country in connection with the El Niño weather phenomenon, which could affect rainfall levels in the coming months and further complicate lives of farmers in many regions of the world, including Zambia.
We also support refugees who come to Zambia from neighbouring countries and hope to rebuild their lives here. For instance, we provide university scholarships to young refugees through the DAFI programme, which we implement in Zambia in collaboration with UNHCR. This way, we were able to help Rebecca, who studies food production and general hospitality.
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