Nutrition Gardens
At Pump Aid we believe in an integrated approach to water and sanitation provision. With the provision of sufficient water for productive use from the Elephant Pump and with nutrient rich compost from the Elephant Toilet, nutrition gardens can be planted in the communities where we work.
With a whole generation decimated by HIV/AIDS, the knowledge and skills of farming have often not been passed down to children. Agricultural training is given when planting the nutrition gardens, ensuring the gardens are maintained by the communities themselves.
Nutrition gardens are key for ensuring rural communities enjoy a healthy diet and grow enough produce to sell at local markets; key elements to helping individuals and communities to break the cycle of poverty.
Tree planting
In addition to securing improved water supplies, tree planting is vital to help communities across southern Africa break the cycle of environmental degradation. Planting trees and improving soil cover helps to increase the re-infiltration rates when rains come, thereby improving the long term sustainability of ground water supplies.
Pump Aid plants a variety of fruit bearing trees including – apple, orange, peach, guava, avocado.
Indigenous species such as acacias will be grown along with Moringa for fodder, Jotropha - for live fencing of the garden and cooking/lighting oil, plus eucalyptus trees for firewood and structural timber.
- Pump Aid aims to plant 1 million trees this year
