Food for Thought Learn about… Farmers Primary

Become an active Global Citizen!

Our learning objectives: To identify the challenges faced by small scale farmers; To suggest ways in which these challenges can be overcome; To explore the benefits of small scale farming.

Hello. My name is Leyla Kayere and I am a farmer in Mnembo, Bvumbwe. This is in Malawi. Oxfam: Abbie Trayler-Smith dia.org/wiki/File:Malawi -map-blank.png mini_map_-rivers).svg Meet Leyla Kayere

Malawi is about the same size of the UK. It has 13 rivers and 3 lakes. It is a country of small-scale producers farming tiny plots of land. The average size of each farm is less than 1 hectare (the size of a football pitch) Traditionally, they grow maize and other crops using rainwater. elang=en-gb Malawi

Now I grow tomatoes which I sell at market. I also grow wheat and rice. I didn’t used to though. Find out how things have improved… Oxfam: Abbie Trayler-Smith lang=en-gb ki/File:Brun_ris.jpg. What does Leyla do?

What has changed? a) Farmers cards Or b) Snakes and Ladders

What has changed? a) Farmers cards

Can you order the picture cards to show the sequence of changes to farmers in Leyla’s community? What are the challenges How does the farmer overcome these challenges? What was the result TASK

Challenges Unpredictable rainfall and drought, so crops die Lack of fertiliser, so poor plant growth Lack of money to invest, so fewer crops planted Best land owned by large farms, so lots of very small farms Small farmers face multiple challenges they need to try and overcome

Solutions Community builds irrigation channels Loans and cheaper fertiliser from the government Training and seed packs given to farmers Community puts their land together to increase size With a bit of help, there are ways they can overcome them…

Benefits Benefits of this support This small amount of support can give release the potential small scale farmers have You should see the range of benefits for individuals, families and the community

What has changed? b) Snakes and Ladders

Play your game of snakes and ladders! Whilst you are playing (or after) you need to make a list of… TASK Challenges farmers face… ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ Improvements farmers make… _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ Who can help farmers… ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________

In Malawi… Read about what has happened in Malawi. How does it relate to your snakes and ladders? © Abbie Trayler-Smith/Oxfam

What is the impact? For both farmers cards and snakes and ladders

© Abbie Trayler-Smith/Oxfam I remember the first time I sold all my tomatoes…I look back to that time as being my proudest moment. I made about £37. I used that money for the walls of my house. What other improvements have come from the money made from selling tomatoes? The personal impact

As a result of more support (including the government giving cheaper fertiliser for farmers), Malawi’s maize production continues to increase. Communities now work together to increase productivity. Working together © Abbie Trayler-Smith/Oxfam The wider impact Source:

The importance of small farmers What qualities do small farmers like Leyla have? What skills do small farmers like Leyla have? © Abbie Trayler-Smith/Oxfam Do you think small scale farmers like Leyla are important for food production in the world?

Role play

Can you retell these events as a role-play presentation? (you decide how) Try and plan it from the point of view of the farmer Role play… drama story photo presentation cartoon

Why small-scale agriculture? Small scale farming can help the environment by producing food locally without any machinery or chemicals; the community by providing jobs for locals and improves the economy Improving small scale farms can lead to better housing, education, and other local businesses that can thrive They just need some support! 500 million small farms in developing countries supports almost 2 billion people (nearly 1/3 of humanity)

-Climate change -Unpredictable weather -A lack of training -Limited land -Poor soil -Poor seeds -Lack of savings -Access to training -Access to better seeds -Access to fertilisers -Working together as a community -Building channels to access water all year -Pooling farms together to farm a bigger space -Better farming techniques -Farming different crops You could use this to help you create your snakes and ladders board game, or your role play… What have we learned…?

Make a change… If you have one, complete a section of your wallchart!

Class for change And when you have learnt about the food system, thought about how it could change and planned and done something yourself, share what you have learnt at A space for active global citizens!

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