MKUSHI’S NKUMBI INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE BECOMES MODEL FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
NKUMBI International College in Mkushi is a shining example of how education can be combined with practical skills to achieve sustainability and community development – it has transformed from being an idea into a thriving agricultural hub.
Not only is the college self-sufficient through farming, but it’s also a source of sustenance for the surrounding community.
Unlike those motivation speakers with talks of starting a Chicken ran with ‘one feather’, the College’s progress is as a result of carefully structured notable steps of hard work pushed by a grant.
As of today, Nkumbi which started with five heads of cattle only in 2018 now has 67 heads of Cattle, 65 goats, 21 Rabbits, 55 pigs, and 5 sheep, with a running poultry production rearing both free range and broiler chickens as all agricultural students are involved in the growth and maintenance of the livestock.
The institution’s principle, Jennifer Chibuye said aside from livestock, Nkumbi is involved in farming.
Chibuye said that for the 2023 to 2024 farming season, a 20 hectares of land was secured for maize growing while a 2.5 hectares was used for sunflower planting.
This was a pleasant news news to the ears of Technology and Science minister, Felix Mutati who revealed that Nkumbu’s dedication to agriculture aligned perfectly with the Zambian government’s efforts to combat climate challenges.
Mutati, applauded the college’s progress and challenged them to become a center of excellence in agriculture by the end of 2024.
To achieve this ambitious goal, the Minister emphasised the need for the college to revamp its curriculum and equip students with the knowledge and skills required for a center of excellence.
During a visit at the institution, Mutati also pledged government support in various areas, including infrastructure development and public-private partnerships.
“The vision will be to make Nkumbi the center of excellency in Agriculture and agriculture mechanism,” said Mutati.
“We want Nkumbi to be a demonstration farm where people can come and learn how to grow and harvest various crops and be taught by a student.”
Mutati said that the government will help the school with the completion of the three newly rehabilitated female hostels as the students lack enough boarding facilities and space.
Meanwhile, the institution’s principle, Jennifer Chibuye said says the current livestock they have would have been in their hundreds by now if not for the fact that the school’s production union sales the same to the boarding house to sustain the learners and members of staff.
“Through agriculture, Nkumbi is sustaining itself, we have some agricultural machineries such as an oil presser, ground nut Sheller and mealie meal. So we began to make our own cooking oil through the sunflower we plant and we also appreciated that the community is in sunflower growing, so we also help the community with cooking oil and other essentials such as mealie meal grinding,” Chibuye told Kalemba.
“Maybe in the immediate intervention we would appreciate if government helped us with a maize planter and an irrigation machine. We have the land for drip irrigation which will enable us to produce vegetables through out the year.”
Kalemba