INNOVATIVE MINISTRIES According to the Center for Agroforestry, agroforestry is

intensive land-use management combining trees and/or shrubs with crops and livestock. Agroforestry practices help farmers to diversify products, markets and farm income; improve soil and water quality; and reduce erosion and damage due to flooding. The integrated practices of agroforestry enhance land and aquatic habitats for fish and wildlife and improve biodiversity while sustaining land resources for generations to come.

this has become a motivating source for some in the school to learn more about agriculture. The high school students are also engaged in cultivating a piece of land in order to sow maize. In the future these students will know how to feed themselves and their communities. The government has taken note of this project and is encouraging schools in Zimbabwe to teach practical subjects for education with production or income generation value. The Green Environ Agroforestry Project was given a piece of

The impact this project has had in the community has been transformational. . . . The government has taken note and is encouraging schools.

Left: A student at the Martin Luther King High School presents a PowerPoint presentation on the agriculture and agroforestry lessons she has had. The project teaches both young children and high school children

Working in partnership with the local community and the Forestry Commission, the project offered workshops on budding and grafting to the community, the Dzivaresekwa widows and the Martin Luther King High School. Eighty five people participated in the workshops where they were furnished with practical knowledge and skills for enhancing the productivity of fruit trees. Participants also received the fruit trees they grafted in the workshop to plant in their gardens at home. The project has a grafting success rate of 73 percent. Intermittent supply of water has hampered the success rate of the budding and grafting

land by the Village Chief to start a tree nursery with various types of fruit trees and indigenous trees for cultivation. The fruit trees the project acquired were avocado, oranges, mangoes, guava, lemon, peaches, macadamia nut, some indigenous trees and trees that enrich the soil with nitrogen and are good for farm lands. A stock of tree saplings for sale was developed by the project.

The public was encouraged to celebrate their birthdays by planting a tree and people now have an option to plant fruit trees. The project plans to expand their selection to include banana and papaya trees, and the Moringa tree that has high nutritional value.

The public was encouraged to celebrate their birthdays by planting a tree and people now have an option to plant fruit trees.

of trees. If successful, in a few years time the participants will be able to enjoy the fruit from the trees they planted and increase their nutritional intake and food security. Another project objective is to teach young children and students at the Martin Luther King High School lessons on agriculture, agroforestry, fruit tree species, grafting and budding. When I visited the project some of the students gave an excellent PowerPoint presentation on these subjects. The students also learned how to start vegetable and herbal gardens and about the health benefits of herbs. They have planted various vegetables such as carrots, coco, lettuce and spinach. The impact this project has had in the community has been transformational. Students in the school have a greater appreciation of environmental-related matters such as water and sanitation, waste management and reforestation. They have learned how to grow vegetables and have had two harvests. Prizes were given to students with the best vegetable garden and

8 BAPTIST WORLD MAGAZINE Indigenous to India, the Moringa tree has been used for

centuries for its medicinal properties. More recently, the Moringa tree leaves have been used to combat malnutrition. It is a potent immune booster and a supper food containing more vitamin C than oranges, more vitamin A than carrots, more potassium than bananas and more calcium than milk. It is used to treat myriad diseases from thyroid disorders to bacterial, fungal, viral and parasitic infections. Health benefits of indigenous herbs for treating ailments have been introduced to the community. They are receiving referrals from other communities and it has become an arm of education for the local community. “The created personal interactions are opportune moments of radical education and inevitable transformation and empowerment,” writes C. H. Chiromo. “We can truly lift ourselves to [a] better life with what God has already given us.”