FAO "Junior Farmer Field and Life School" Helps HIV/AIDS Orphans
in Africa
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Dear Friends,
Hello and here is a fantastic idea... Bravo FAO! Hope this idea
is put into widespread practice everywhere.
All best wishes,
Janet Feldman
mailto:kaippg@earthlink.net
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http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2005/102183/index.html
9 May 2005 With many AIDS orphans in sub-Saharan Africa unable
to farm because their parents died without passing on essential
skills, the United Nations agricultural agency has set up 34
field schools to help provide the enthusiastic children with
farming know-how and other life skills.
The specially designed Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools for
orphaned children in Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia are
targeting around 1,000 young people, according to the Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO), which is working with the UN
World Food Programme (WFP) and other UN agencies, non-
governmental organizations (NGOs) and local institutions to set
up the courses.
The schools will help to recover or sustain traditional knowl-
edge about indigenous crops, medicinal plants and biodiversity.
In addition the schools aim to share agricultural knowledge,
business skills and life skills with orphans and vulnerable
children between 12 and 18. The knowledge and skills acquired by
the young girls and boys should help them to develop positive
values regarding gender equality and human rights.
"The objective of the schools is to empower the orphans through
knowledge and self-esteem and to give them essential elements
for their long-term food security. These training courses are an
important starting point to get AIDS orphans out of hunger and
poverty. They offer survival strategies in often very difficult
environments," said Marcela Villarreal, Director of FAO's Gender
and Population Division.
Of the estimated 34 million orphans in sub-Saharan Africa, more
than 11 million lost their parents to AIDS. By 2010, it is esti-
mated that up to 20 million children could lose one or both par-
ents to the disease. Children orphaned by AIDS and living in ru-
ral areas are particularly at risk from malnutrition, disease,
abuse and sexual exploitation.
The threat of sexual exploitation is particularly high for those
left alone to cope with poverty and forced to earn money to sup-
port their families. After the death of their parents, the chil-
dren often become heads of household and have to search for ways
to make an income, a difficult task in rural areas with few job
opportunities, services and little infrastructure.
The schools cover both traditional and modern agriculture. Chil-
dren learn about field preparation, sowing and transplanting,
weeding, irrigation, pest control, utilization and conservation
of available resources, utilization and processing of food
crops, harvesting, storage and marketing skills.