The Bread and Water for Africa® food self-sustainability program empowers households in sub-Saharan Africa through sustainable farming by providing seeds and essential tools. This support also enables families to sell surplus produce in local markets, thus generating additional income.
Sub-Saharan Africa’s agriculture faces escalating challenges, including climate change-induced extreme weather, low productivity due to poor infrastructure and limited access to inputs, persistent soil degradation, and structural socio-economic issues like weak economic conditions and gender inequality.
Through our agricultural training programs, men and women learn sustainable farming methods to provide food for their families and surplus to sell at local markets. Our programs also provide seeds and essential farming tools.
In 2025, more than 27,000 individuals in Malawi, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe benefited directly or indirectly through our food self-sustainability program.
In Malawi, we trained 350 people in soil conservation methods, which indirectly helped over 1,400 others.
In Sierra Leone, 75 rural women and youth were trained in vegetable and crop cultivation, benefiting over 25,200 residents among five communities.
In Tanzania, 142 individuals, including children and caregivers at the Watoto Wa Africa (WWA) Orphanage, directly benefited from our food self-sustainability projects.
Additionally, in Zimbabwe, more than 30 individuals benefited from the redevelopment of the food self-sustainability project at Lerato Children’s Home.
“Through farming, I found my strength and my future. With the help of the Rural Youth Development Organization and Bread and Water for Africa®, my garden not only feeds my family but has also helped me pay my school fees,” stated a participant in the farmers’ training program in Sierra Leone. “I celebrate farming as the seed of hope for every young girl’s dream.”
Another who was empowered through skills is Hawa Sillah, 22, who lives in the Kpetema community with her two children, ages four and two years old.
Hawa, who has no formal education, has been living with her parents, who are both traders. With the farming and business skills she has gained, she is now able to follow in their footsteps, selling her produce, including groundnuts (peanuts) and beans, at the local market.
After receiving training and support, including funds, seeds, and farming tools, she embarked on selling groundnuts by packing them in plastic bags for hygiene. Today, she is able to maintain her business and farming activities in the community.
As for Hawa herself, “I appreciate the training and support, as my business is improving because I am using the business techniques I learned from the farming and business skill training program I attended.
“Thanks to Rural Youth Development Organization and Bread and Water for Africa® for conducting the training program in our communities. Before, I was struggling to plan and trace my profit, but it is easier to keep records of my daily business.”
And based on her own personal success, she adds, “I am appealing for more training of traders in my community.”
At Bread and Water for Africa®, we recognize that investing in farmers’ capacity-building in Africa goes beyond agriculture; it is about empowering communities, reducing hunger, and fostering economic growth across the continent.
Small but mighty, Bread and Water for Africa® capacity-building programs can significantly enhance crop yields and food security by providing farmers with knowledge on improved farming techniques, soil health, water management (such as raised-drip irrigation), and sustainable practices.
The Bread and Water for Africa® Food Self-Sustainability Program focuses on and supports smallholder family farmers at the household level by teaching them the best practices and various farming techniques, and by providing essential tools and seeds to grow basic staple foods on their small plots of land.
This program is crucial in addressing food insecurity, improving nutrition, and promoting economic empowerment for African households.
By enhancing families’ ability to sustainably produce their own food, the Bread and Water for Africa® program contributes to community resilience and self-sufficiency, reduces poverty, and fosters long-term development in Africa.
