News from the Garden of Skills, Malanti – Eswatini

The four women in charge of the vegetable garden at the Garden of Skills water the beds every morning, and the method of combining crops and harvesting them gradually means that the beds are never empty. The women replace vegetables … Read More

Every day, the women take turns maintaining the Malanti community garden. Part of the Garden of Skills, this 2,000m2 plot of cultivated land is open to the women of the Malanti community, who each benefit from 3 plots of land. … Read More

The women at the Garden of Skills have prepared a sieved mixture of soil, compost, manure and biochar to enrich the seedling trays in their nursery and prepare new seedlings for spring. Seedlings are sown in plastic trays and cups, … Read More

Fezile, who is in charge of the vegetable garden at the Garden of Skills, has started transplanting the celery plants grown in the greenhouse. The opportunity to fill the Mandala, a flower-shaped garden located at the entrance to the center, … Read More

Keit has been supporting Designing Hope with its sewing projects for 10 years. This year, it has provided the association with dozens of medical outfits for distribution in its areas of action. While most were distributed to Piggs Peak Hospital, … Read More

The women in the sewing workshop were commissioned by Cemag-Care to make Tote bags bearing the message ‘My period, my period’, a message from this innovative laboratory committed to helping women with difficult and heavy periods and contraception. The collaboration … Read More

Every day, the children of the women working in the garden, or training in the sewing workshop, are welcomed at the Garden of Skills crèche. Two supervisors are in charge of activities with the children, including outdoor activities and Montessori-based … Read More

The women in charge of the vegetable garden at the Garden of Skills spend part of each day looking after the nursery: watering the growing cells, preparing new cells, sowing new plants, etc. It’s important to put new seedlings into … Read More

The new community plot in the Garden of Skills (Jardin des Savoir-Faire) is a resplendent sight! 16 women have accepted the invitation from Designing Hope and its local partner Fundzisa Live to set up a family vegetable garden on 3 … Read More

A wonderful initiative was recently launched near Malanti: the distribution of school uniforms to underprivileged children in local schools. The aim is to help families in difficulty and ensure that all children can go to school in a country where … Read More

The women in charge of the garden have prepared lettuce plants in the greenhouse, which will be entrusted to the women of Malanti for their community garden. The greenhouse, covered with a 40% shade net, provides a space protected from … Read More

The women of the Malanti community wanted to install a mandala on their community garden plot in the Jardin des Savoir-Faire, just like the one on the main plot. This shared garden was set up by Dessine l’Espoir to welcome … Read More

Every day, Tholakele, Fezile, Nomvula, Thabile and Thobile are in charge of tending the beds at the Garden of Knowledge in Malanti, Eswatini.The winter season is the dry season, and watering is essential in the morning.

At the Garden of Skills, the children in the crèche start the day by tending their own little vegetable garden, the Teen-Gi garden, accompanied by the crèche manager and one of the women in charge of the centre’s garden. The … Read More

The trees in the Garden of Skills have started to grow and are now approaching 1 metre in height. In a year’s time, they should reach 3 metres and start providing shade for the crops while fertilising the soil on … Read More

While waiting for the seedlings to be ready for transplanting, the Garden of Skills team gave chive plants to the women who will be benefiting from the new community garden. Each woman will place them on her three growing beds. … Read More

The Garden of Skills’ turmeric plants are in flower!Soon the tubers will be ready to be harvested underground, to be used to flavour the dishes cooked for the women who benefit from the garden.

The Designing Hope association and its local partner Fundzisa Live approached the community of Malanti about extending the Garden of Skills to invite women from the community to set up individual plots. The community responded favourably to this request, and … Read More

Fesile presents the seedlings sown in the greenhouse as the southern winter approaches.The seeds were selected from the organic seed catalogue of agrosemens, a partner of Designing Hope.

Chya is a shrub from Mexico that was imported to Africa because of its resistance to drought and its higher nutritional value than most other leafy vegetables such as spinach, Chinese cabbage and amaranth. It is a good source of … Read More

The women of the Garden of Skills now wear work outfits created in the center’s sewing workshop. These unique jackets bear the Porte-Bonheurs flower. The patterns and design were created by Keit, our sewing project partner. The garden team stands … Read More

Watering the garden with the nursery children has become a regular and popular activity. Under the supervision of Tolaklele, a member of the garden team, and Ncobizwe, head of the creche, the children play an active role in maintaining the … Read More

A nursery has been set up for the children of women in training. Thanks to the support of the AA Ulmann Foundation, this facility enables the women to engage fully in a professional activity or training program, while providing a … Read More

To carry out a test protocol on seeds to ensure that they have retained their germinative germinative properties, you can work on twenty seeds, sown in pots. The seed packets and plates are identified. All the seeds with a good germination rate can then be sown immediately on a … Read More

At the opening ceremony of the farm, we donated the uniforms made by the women of the Garden of Skills in Eswatini to the youths, who were very touched by this gesture, as they had been trained in permaculture by … Read More

The women at the Garden of Skills love strawberries, and strawberries really thrive in Eswatini…The small plot dedicated to this crop has been considerably enlarged, thanks to the collection of runners and their transplanting onto new plots. These strawberries are … Read More

The Malanti greenhouse provides a protected space for seedlings from the nursery, sown in pots, as well as for a selection of vegetables protected from the sun and insects.

The women in charge of the vegetable garden at the Garden of Skills have picked a large harvest to add to the food baskets distributed to hospital patients. Fresh carrots and beetroot will join other vegetables and essentials bought in town for distribution to … Read More

The women in charge of the beds in the Garden of Skills put into practice the well-known advice of gardeners: “One hoeing is worth two waterings”. By loosening the upper crust of the soil, the water is able to penetrate … Read More

Nomvula, head of cultivation at the Garden of Skills in Malanti, harvests carrots to unthicken her beds, entrusting part of the harvest to a disadvantaged young person from the community of Malanti, who receives regular help from the association with donations of … Read More

The Mandala in the Garden of Skills is a concentration of all the species grown in the vegetable garden at the Malanti centre. Located at the entrance, it plays both an aesthetic and educational role. Located close to the vegetable garden, it’s also the ideal … Read More

The mandala in the Garden of Skills is located at the entrance to the garden, near the kitchen. It includes a sample of the crops grown in the kitchen garden: shallots, tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, etc.

The strawberries love the Garden of Skills just as much as the women in the garden love the strawberries…Just the thing… The plants have produced a huge number of runners, which the women have taken care to transplant onto new … Read More

Dessine l’Espoir has developed a collection of educational games about gardening and the environment. To make them easier to handle, the association has asked the women of Eswatini to make the bags, hand-embroidered with the name of the games and … Read More

The women of the Garden of Skills have had one since the launch of the project and make good use of it to prepare the beds. The cultivation plots have been sized to a width of 80cm to fit the … Read More

5 women are in charge of the cultivation beds in the Garden of Skills, a daily task carried out since 2021, when the project began in the Malanti hills in Eswatini. Growing the plants in parallel rows at right angles … Read More

The Malanti greenhouse, built by young deaf and hard-of-hearing people from the Lesotho-based “Farming our Future” association, is a real asset for the women in the Garden of Skills. It enables them to sow their crops sheltered from the sun … Read More

The women in charge of the Garden of Skills at Malanti in Eswatini are preparing the selection of seeds that they will put into pots in the greenhouse. It’s a painstaking task, so as not to waste this precious resource … Read More

Every day, the women in charge of the vegetable garden harvest fresh vegetables in order to make balanced meals for the women in training at the Garden of Skills. Designing Hope takes advantage of these training moments to promote balanced … Read More

Strawberries do well in Eswatini! The women in charge of the Malanti “Garden of Skills” have reserved a special place for them: a circular mandala. This year, the plants have produced their first crop of fruit, as well as numerous … Read More

The sweet potato is very popular in Eswatini, and is also suitable for sloping ground as it produces abundant creeping foliage. After each harvest, the women take cuttings from the harvested sweet potato stalks and transplant them to new beds. 

The cultivation beds in the Malanti garden follow the principles of permaculture.  The women combine different species on the same bed that are mutually beneficial and grow compatibly in the same space. On this particular bed, the women have planted … Read More

Peppers are particularly popular in Eswatini in the local cuisine.  The harvested fruits are small but very flavourful, and will enhance the meal served daily at the Garden of Knowledge. 

In the vegetable garden of the Garden of Skills, nothing is lost!  When the women thin the carrots to encourage their growth, the young shoots are collected and cooked for the daily meal offered to the women in training.  The … Read More

Designing Hope has recruited a full-time cook for the Garden of Skills. To accompany rice or traditional semolina (pap), Spe cooks a daily sauce using seasonal vegetables from the garden. 

The greenhouse at Malanti is used both for seedling production and for starting crops in a protected area.  The greenhouse limits the impact of the sun and limits evaporation. The women in charge of the vegetable garden wear their work … Read More

In the greenhouse of Malanti, women have prepared tomato plants which they are now about to plant on prepared beds. 

In Malanti, a chicken coop has been set up in two adjoining pens.  The principle is to rotate the cultivation and housing of the animals in these two pens. The manure from the chickens enriches the soil for future crops. 

In Malanti, at the Garden of Skills, 5 women are in charge of the maintenance of the vegetable garden. The garden is organised in 80 cm wide plots, on which the association of crops is favoured in order to optimise … Read More

In the Garden of Skills, a plot of about 20 plots is reserved for the children of Malanti. They come in groups after school and on Saturdays to tend to the planting in their garden. By raising awareness among the … Read More

A large 10-cubic-meter tank has been installed in the garden, fed by water from a nearby river. While waiting for the installation of a drip irrigation system, the women take care of watering the plots every morning, especially during the … Read More

The Malanti garden was built on the principle of permaculture with 80 cm wide plots on which the women grow vegetables in association in fairly dense plots. Densifying the crops allows them to limit water consumption. To prepare and maintain … Read More

When preparing the beds with the “Campagnole”, the soil is enriched by sprinkling a mixture of biochar and compost on the surface. The Campagnole will then mix this input deep into the cultivated plots. Biochar is a natural fertilizer produced … Read More

Two of the main objectives of the Garden of Skills are to become a training centre in the fields of agroecology and agroforestry, as well as nutrition, while developing a catering activity.  It is important to ensure good management and … Read More

Since the beginning of June, the Garden of Skills has been welcoming children from the Malanti community. They are divided into four groups, and come once a week from Monday to Thursday, in turn. They come after school and meet … Read More

The women use natural fertilizers such as compost, manure and biochar produced locally with the support of The Ivory Foundation to enrich the crop beds in the Garden of Skills. Grass, previously cut on the ground and then dried, is … Read More

In order to fertilize the new planting beds set up each week in the Garden of Skills, the women of Fundzisa Live, accompanied by men from the community of Malanti, went to the logging area on the outskirts of Piggs … Read More

After enriching the soil with compost, manure and biochar produced with the support of The Ivory Foundation, the women of Fundzisa Live planted the first crops on the new cultivation beds. Various vegetables (carrots, lettuce, spinach, radishes) were planted in … Read More

The Garden of Skills is a pilot project in agroforestry whose objective is to promote agroecological practices by becoming a training center in agroforestry. Thus, following the principles of agroforestry, the women in charge of the garden have planted trees … Read More

Today, the women of the Garden of Skills planted peppers, beets, lettuce and spinach on the beds of the “Teenji” (Teen G for youth garden), the garden in front of the workshop, half of which is used for educational activities … Read More

The women of the Garden of Skills harvested Jugo Beans which they then prepared with a traditional recipe. Jugo beans are beans grown in Eswatini and have a taste similar to peanuts. Once cooked in water they are ready to … Read More

To add value to vegetable production from the Garden of Skills, Tolaguele cooked the harvested sweet potatoes. As part of the nutrition training that will be offered at the garden, recipes using little salt and only natural spices will be … Read More

The women in charge of the maintenance of the Garden of Skills have begun harvesting the sweet potatoes planted a few months earlier on one of the first plots of land set up on the new Malanti site.

In order to develop a model of food self-sufficiency in the Garden of Skills, the women of Fundzisa Live in charge of the garden prepare new crop beds every week to make the most of the cultivated area. A hard … Read More

A system of interlocking trays developed by Designing Hope was entrusted to the women of Malanti to optimize their plant production. This durable and resistant system avoids the use of disposable cups, which are difficult to find locally.

The access road and the construction of the Garden of Skills are now complete and everything is ready for the activities of the centre: A 100m2 workshop, an open kitchen, a sanitary block, the director’s house, the volunteers’ house, a … Read More

The greenhouse at the Garden of Skills was set up by the deaf and hard of hearing youngsters supported by The Ivory Foundation in Lesotho, modelled on the one they built for there school two years ago.  This greenhouse, covered … Read More

In order to map the land, and to plan the crops, the beds at the Garden of Skills were named so that the women could better identify them. The “GreenJo” beds are located between the Greenhouse and the “Jojo tank” … Read More

The garden of Skills in Malanti will be developed according to the principles of principles of agroforestry. The women have started to plant fertilizer trees and fruit trees on the land in alternation, and the cultivated plots will be placed … Read More

After the intervention of a bulldozer to create an access road to the garden from the main road, the women undertook the realization of a gutter all along the road with underground pipes in order to evacuate the water during … Read More

The women of Fundiza Live called on people from the community of Malanti to help them reinforce the access road to the garden. Indeed, after having excavated the ground, the realization of a cement gutter all along the road and … Read More

The women of Fundzisa Live have undertaken to prepare the cultivation beds inside the greenhouse of the Garden of Skills in Malanti. They put into practice the technique of “lasagna beds”. They collected materials from the field, as well as … Read More

Following their experience in Lesotho, the deaf and hard of hearing young people from St Monica’s farm in Lesotho came to help the women of Malanti to build a greenhouse similar to the one they built at the school in … Read More

The women in charge of the Malanti garden have planted sweet potato crops. These are traditionally used on sloping land to avoid drainage and to cover areas that are difficult to cultivate as long plots, because of the presence of … Read More

The Malanti garden has a rather exceptional view of a valley in an area where the indigenous vegetation has been preserved from the intensive eucalyptus cultivation that is a threat to biodiversity in other parts of the country.

The women in charge of the Garden of Skills in Malanti have planted corn. To do this, they followed the curve of the land without clearing it all, using the Zaï technique, which consists of digging basins 20 to 40 … Read More

The first cultivation beds have been set up at the Malanti knowledge garden in Eswatini by the women in charge of the garden. These beds are cultivated strips that follow the slope of the land and are 1m/1m20 wide. Onions, … Read More

Within the knowledge garden in Malanti, Eswatini, two chalets have been built to allow the installation of dry toilets and a room for the women to store their belongings.  A road is also being constructed for which a gully is … Read More

The women in charge of the Malanti skills garden in Eswatini have created a mandala, a garden in the shape of flowers where the petals are represented by crop boards. The mandala will serve as a roundabout for the seasonal … Read More

At the Garden of Skills in Malanti – Eswatini, the women in charge of the garden improvised a spiral garden using stones from the garden. They used the stones that are naturally present in this very mountainous region of Eswatini, … Read More

The construction of little cabins has just started. These cabins are the result of a local and sustainable economy: they have been made using wood from local forest production and have been assembled by a company located near the center. … Read More

The development of the Malanti field is ongoing and the plantations begin with sweet potatoes! This species is particularly well adapted to the landscape of small mountains and hills with rocks in Eswatini, as well as its tropical climate. The … Read More

The malanti field has been completely cleared. The grass that has been removed will be used for compost as well as for mulching the crops. In addition, the sweet potatoes that were planted a little over a month ago are … Read More

Malanti Garden is located about 20 km from Piggs Peak, high up on the main road to Mbabane, the capital of Eswatini. This makes it a popular and easily accessible location for the surrounding population. However, as the Malanti garden … Read More

The first developments began in Malanti Garden, north of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland). As the seasons are reversed compared to the northern hemisphere, it is currently summer in this part of the world, but it is also the rainy season. The … Read More