Total LandCare Zambia

TLC’s mission is to improve the livelihoods and standards of living of smallholder farm households across the region. Program design and implementation involve an integrated community-based approach to address basic needs and challenges identified with communities. These include low agricultural production and diversification, food insecurity, poor nutrition, vulnerability to variable weather and climate change, limited access to capital, credit, inputs and markets, high incidence of common diseases due to lack of potable water and sanitation, increasing shortages of wood for fuel and building needs, and the degradation of natural resources from population growth and poor land-use practices. The key concept is to instill responsibility among rural communities and households to tackle their own needs, with special emphasis on building resilience to climate change. TLC facilitates this process by collaborating with communities to conduct a needs assessment and to evaluate land-use practices, crops, and livestock best suited to the agro-ecologies and interests of different beneficiaries. This is followed by developing community-based action plans that involve various interventions to address different needs. The ultimate aim is to establish a foundation of knowledge, skills and resources to enable the transition from subsistence survival to business-based livelihoods that can grow and prosper. Further details about TLC’s approach and development activities are provided under Profile in the main menu.