LEAD Project
PO Box 530376
Lundazi, Zambia
Phone: +260 979 121 697
Website: https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=611-051
A Village in Need
The village of Lusuntha lies on the border between Malawi and Zambia. To the ten thousand people who call this place home, little is known of the opportunites that exist outside the village. They accept that the earth is barren and incapable of providing the 
nutrition they need. They accept that half their children will die before their fifth birthday, mainly from malnutrition and related diseases.
Unaware of modern farming techniques that can revitalise the soil, the people of Lusuntha cannot provide enough food and nutrition to feed their families and raise their children. This is not their fault. Infertile soils lead to poor crop yields; poor crop yields mean low incomes; and low incomes mean hunger, poverty and an inability to gain the knowledge and resources necessary to better agricultural techniques. Sinking further into the dark spiral of poverty, the parents of Lusuntha are forced to watch their children grow up malnourished and starved – literally dying of hunger.
The fact that such a cycle exists in the 21st Century, the fact that children cannot live to see their fifth birthday, is a tragedy that can and must be stopped.
The Circle of Life
As hopeless as the situation may seem, it can be stopped. The soil can be improved and the cycle can be broken. Sustainable agricultural techniques (commonly referred to as organic farming) allow farmers to produce crops indefinitely while replenishing soil nutrients. By recycling crop and livestock waste, employing nitrogen fixing plants, and increasing seed diversity, the stewards of Lusuntha can bring everlasting fertility to the earth and soil. Thus the cycle breaks: fertile soils result in higher crop yields; higher crop yields lead to increased incomes; and increased incomes mean improved health, more education and better farming techniques. The Zambian countryside contains all the sun and water required for organic farming, all that is needed is the spark of knowledge. By equipping the community with the knowledge and seed necessary for sustainable farming practices, we can provide a brighter future for the families and children of Lusuntha for years to come. But if we do not act now, the lives of Lusuntha are doomed to wither away alongside their crops.
How will it work?
The Lusuntha Economic & Agricultural Development (LEAD) Project, in partnership with the Zambian Association for Sustainable Projects (ZASP), will provide training in agricultural techniques that empower local farmers – endowing them with the knowledge and skills necessary to farm sustainably. LEAD also plans to supply comprehensive education in business, nutrition and HIV/AIDS prevention and care. Beginning in 2010, LEAD will provide a wide range of seed for soil-friendly and highly nutritional crops, such as beans, soy, and peanuts. In order to maintain sustainability all participants will return an equal amount of seed after harvest, further extending the number of beneficiaries reached by the LEAD project.
Who will benefit?
Within t
he first two years, LEAD will help under-privileged Zambian families (those either currently headed by widows or are orphan caretakers) to develop their own lucrative and sustainable agricultural projects. By 2013, a projected 120 families will have been trained in conservation farming techniques and provided with a wide variety of seed. Expansion will occur after 2012 and with oversight by ZASP, the Swedish funded NGO founded in 1991, residing 12 kilometers from Lusuntha village.
The Chicken and The Egg
The LEAD project can end the crippling malnutrition and starvation plaguing Lusuntha today, bettering the lives and condition of its citizens for many years to come. However, we can not do this without your support.
In order to maintain sustainability and ensure the project continues to help people for many years to come, LEAD plans to set up a non-profit chicken and egg business that will generate the funds needed to pay for seeds and training. In order to do this, LEAD needs $4000 to pay for the materials, chicken, and feed necessary to start the egg business. We need your help to raise this money and to start providing the endless gift of knowledge.
Your donation to LEAD is crucial to the development and implementation of the project and without it the citizens of Lusuntha will never rise above destructive poverty. Every dollar donated to the LEAD project helps!
What is Microfinance?
Microfinance provides small loans to community members who cannot access traditional bank loans. The community decides which group member will receive a loan, and the repayment is made directly back to the community so new loans can be provided. If the money is not repaid then it is the debtors’ family, friends and neighbours who will suffer. Because of these social pressures, repayment rates for microfinance schemes around the world average 98%.
A Brighter Future – with your support!
By August 2012, LEAD aims to have helped over 100 families deemed most at risk become self-sustainable in the practice and business of sustainable agriculture. Once the projected number is reached, LEAD plans to expand its loaning program to include other environmentally and culturally sustainable businesses, on a microfinance basis.
Our project uses the principals of microfinance to increase the community’s ability to better their income, nutrition and lifestyle. It focuses on providing community members with very small loans – generally no larger than $100 – in concert with specialized training. The power of microfinance comes from its ability to provide financial support to those people completely unfamiliar with our western financial traditions. It does this by specifically tailoring those services to fit the traditions of a certain culture or society. So instead of lower credit scores, fines, bankruptcy, etcetera being the driving force for loan repayment, motivation comes from social forces already existing and familiar within that community. With repayment rates averaging 98% throughout the world, this system of development insures the betterment of lives for many, many years to come!
To donate please visit our website at https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=611-051.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
