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Fungai Lupande Mashonaland Central Bureau

THE Frontline Institute in Shamva has partnered the African Centre for Fertiliser Development in training communities in organic gardening to improve nutritional requirement per household.

Frontline Institute recently held an open day to show communities how to start organic gardens, and various small income generating projects like poultry and pig farming.

The guest of honour, Shamva district development co-ordinator Mr White Nkoma, said he was impressed by the unique training programme at Frontline Institute which emphasises on lifelong learning and development.

“I am impressed by the way you practice things at this institution as a team,” he said. “I have learnt that this institution responds to the ever changing macro and micro economic environment. The world is in need of trained personnel who voluntarily devote to work with the poor.

“You are crafting future generations filled with passion to do what it takes to make the world a better place.

This capitalistic world is bedevilled with pollution, deforestation, siltation of dams and excessive use of chemical fertilisers. This demands us to change our way of doing things.”

ACFD projects officer, Mr Tamba Chirume, said they partnered Frontline Institute in training communities in organic gardening.

“ACFD is an inter-Governmental centre formed by the then Organisation of African Unity, now African Union, with a mandate of carry out agriculture research and development,” he said.

“We have held eight meetings with the community looking at value addition, fruit planting aqua culture, conservation agriculture, gallery reclamation, chicken rearing, among others.

“DAPP is coming in with their expertise and we involve the community in various projects that we are initiating for them. We call upon tertiary institutions and stakeholders to join us so that we work together.”

Frontline Institute’s principal, Mr Doubt Musiiwa, said the objective of the open day was to share information with the community and letting people familiarise with their teaching methodologies.

He said they had trained more than 5 000 students since the inception of the institution.

They have an enrolment of 120 students from 11 countries from Africa, Asia and South America, who are doing project management and leadership skills in line with development work.