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To Restore Our Earth, Youth Lead the Way

on  April 20, 2021

Editor’s Note: This blog is the first in a three-part series for Earth Day 2021, with the theme “Three Days of Climate Action.” Today’s focus is on youth. Read more below!Around the world, youth are leaders in the fight for climate justice. They know they will feel the consequences of climate change long after today’s leaders are no longer in power. We may think of towering figures, like Greta Thunberg, who addressed the UN Climate Action Summit in 2019 and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in three consecutive years.Perhaps unknown outside their community, but quietly, incrementally, the students and staff at Hope for South Sudan (HFSS), a residential school for children of all ages in Eastern Equitoria state, are also becoming leaders in the fight against climate change. They, like most smallholder farmers around the world, are already bearing the brunt of extreme weather events — erratic and unpredictable rainfall, droughts and floods — that have prevented the school from achieving self-sufficiency in food production until now. With the launch of the Empowering Leaders through Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture project (ELNA) in 2020, that is starting to change.

The Hope for South Sudan team clears land for more stable crops.
HFSS’s agriculture staff and Rise Against Hunger’s technical advisors have introduced organic agriculture on the school farm. Working alongside the farm staff, students and community members are beginning to learn and apply these agriculture approaches that preserve nutrients and transform waste in the farm system. Utilizing natural fertilizers, like compost or manure, and practicing minimal soil disturbance, HFSS already achieved a record 67% increase in maize yield per acre in 2020. As the team set to work, clearing more land for staple crops, they agreed to cut down the existing vegetation, rather than burn the field. While more labor-intensive, this approach maintains soil fertility and avoids emitting black carbon pollutants into the air.Another way that young people at HFSS improve the environment is by using naturally occurring materials to create nutrient-dense vegetable beds. Omene, a 30-year old farmworker at HFSS, applied the techniques of double-digging garden beds which Bryan Pride, Rise Against Hunger’s Agriculture Technical Advisor, taught on-site and via training videos.
Omene, a 30-year-old farmworker, works on vegetable beds.
Establishing a garden bed involves mixing organic materials, like manure, leaves, maize or millet stalks, and charcoal, to create highly fertile soil for garden beds. Utilizing this method, Omene and the agriculture team grew a variety of vegetables. Omene said,

“My biggest accomplishment so far is being a part of the team which produced 88 kg of leafy greens in March 2021!”

These highly nutritious ingredients were used directly in the school meals. Omene has also applied the techniques he learned at HFSS to his own farm, growing two types of vegetables so far.He shared, “Owing to the fact that HFSS produced food in the farm last year, the community believes that there is potential in the land so they are preparing to plant maize and sorghum in the recommended methods of farming that they saw in HFSS through the ELNA project.”With 73% of South Sudan’s population under the age of 30, youth will certainly lead the country in protecting the environment. Organic agriculture is a highly effective way of advancing food security and ensuring stewardship of natural resources for generations to come.To support Rise Against Hunger’s efforts to Empower Communities worldwide, please give now.

About the Author

Julie Savane is the Senior Manager, Programs, on Rise Against Hunger's Global Impact team. She works with our partners to design and implement agriculture and income initiatives for smallholder farmers and entrepreneurs.

More Posts by Julie Savane

Strength, Stability And Hope

The gift that filled Nelly’s table.

“We were yielding very little, and the crops could not sustain us the whole year,” Nelly remembers. As a mother of seven and a farmer with two decades of experience, the stress of inconsistent yields was all-consuming. A poor harvest not only strained her family financially, but also limited their own meals to just two a day. Their story reflects that of many in their fishing and farming village near a lake in the Karonga district of northern Malawi. Here, heavy rainfall makes conventional farming methods nearly impossible. The entire village is, quite literally, saturated in food insecurity — a reality that leaves families struggling to survive season after season without a dependable source of nourishment.

In 2019, Nelly began participating in Harvesting Prosperity and Resilience, a sustainable agriculture project implemented by Rise Against Hunger in partnership with the Foundation for Community Support Services (FOCUS). The project works with 3,100 smallholder farmers in Malawi’s Karonga and Mzimba districts to strengthen food and nutrition security by improving production methods, nutrition practices and household income.

Just one year later, Nelly was ready to expand the variety of crops on her farm. What land once only produced maize began to flourish with sesame, cowpeas, rice and groundnuts during the rainy season (summer), as well as maize and vegetables during the dry season (winter). Through climate-smart agriculture training, she learned new techniques like manure making, pit planting and mulching, crop rotation and intercropping. Equipped with these tools, Nelly’s farm began to thrive.

After the 2023–2024 growing season, she sold enough produce to purchase an ox cart. Her harvests in 2024-2025 season yielded over 500 pounds of crops, including 22 bags of groundnuts, seven bags of maize, 12 tins of sesame and three bags of rice. With this surplus, she was able to invest in a motorbike, which she now uses to transport African doughnuts (mandasi) that she cooks and sells — creating yet another source of income for her family.

The transformation reaches far beyond her finances. Nelly now has the stability to provide for her husband and children. “I am able to eat different food types, pay school fees for my children and fulfill the visions that I have made with my family,” she beams. “I am now sleeping peacefully without any fears of food or paying school fees for the children.”

Her leadership has also grown. Today, Nelly serves as a leader in the Harvesting Prosperity and Resilience project, teaching other farmers in her district to adopt climate-resilient, labor-saving practices. By sharing her knowledge, she is multiplying her impact — empowering her neighbors to experience the same transformation she has achieved.

Across Nelly’s community, food and economic security are on the rise. Lombani, a government extension officer for the region, explains, “I can see the community is being transformed in the sense that in the area, there is food, income and nutrition security. Development is also happening at the household level.”

Nelly reflects on what it means to invest in holistic programs that address the root causes of hunger: “We are now healthy people. Children are going to school after eating their breakfast, having high yields and different types of crops due to conservation agriculture practices. With the support from the project, we have food, and we can access other food items from the market after selling our produce.”

This is the gift that fills: a future full of stability, strength and hope. It fills tables with food, families with security and communities with the resources to thrive. It’s an investment in futures rooted in resilience and hope.