July 17, 2025
News
Judita comes from Burundi. She is 48 years old, a single mother of four children and grandmother of four. To feed her family, she decided to take up farming. This year, most of the maize on Judita’s plot withered, leaving the household without food. Thanks to a “winter-maize” crop and training from Caritas, she now believes that she can both feed her children and expand the farm.
From Burundi to Zambia: fleeing war and starting over
Judita left her native Burundi because of civil war and, in 2017, found refuge in the Meheba refugee settlement in northern Zambia. Fear of violence, persecution and a rapidly worsening economy has driven more than 400,000 people from Burundi since 2015; many have headed to Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Zambia.
Winter maize – a lifeline for the family
Judita first tried growing tomatoes but soon discovered that they need near-daily care—regular watering, staking and more frequent pest control—and suffer quickly from drought. She therefore switched to maize and beans.
The climate did not make things easy: “The rain stopped all of a sudden and a large part of the beautiful maize crop dried,” Judita explains.
For several weeks the family had virtually nothing to eat, until Caritas Czech Republic stepped in with winter-maize seed and other support. Judita refuses to give up; she loves the work and, with winter maize and the training she has received, is confident she can feed her family and enlarge the farm.
Training from Caritas Czech Republic
Besides providing winter-maize seed, Caritas Czech Republic offered practical training. Judita learned the correct spacing of plants, how to apply fertiliser properly and how to protect crops from pests.
“The harvest looks good, so I expect to have enough left over to buy more equipment and expand the farm,” Judita says enthusiastically.
Caritas Czech Republic in Zambia
Zambia is one of the countries increasingly affected by climate change. Local farmers, whose livelihoods depend on agriculture, are among the hardest hit. We support farmers like Manifesto so that they can continue to grow crops despite the changing climate. One of the people we support is also Conceptor, a farmer who learned ecological farming methods with the help of Caritas Czech Republic.
