Our Canadian Charity # 801572736 RR0001 is building a sustainable community-based seed bank and tree nursery to provide critical seeds to home vegetable gardens, implement a local reforestation programme, and develop a tree planting programme to support elephants in Zambia Africa.

In April 2014 we built a resource garden, complete with drip irrigation, and a tree nursery at our Resource Centre in Mongu Barotseland. We have sent over 3.5 million vegetable seeds, collected in Canada, and so far have handed them out to 13 female and 30 male farmers in Mongu, Kalabo, Kaoma, Lusaka & the Lundazi District of Northern Province (north of Chipata). We have over 450 trees in our tree nursery, which we will plant in the community and sell to game parks to plant to feed Elephants. Our hope is to make arrangements with hotels in many cities in Zambia where our volunteer staff could pick up the seeds that would have been thrown out after preparing meals for tourists. They would then be distributed to local impoverished communities for people to grow in their gardens. We provided binders with printed "How to Grow" instructions for all of the vegetable seeds we brought as they don't have computers to access all of the information online. Our goal is to introduce new varieties of seeds, like winter squash, so people may grow year round and increase vitamin intake, especially vitamin A to decrease instances of blindness.
We hand out 100+ vegetable seeds and then in return people bring back 20 seeds they have grown or fallen tree seeds which we plant in our tree nursery. We call the seeds handed back in "Interest Seed", just like interest in a bank. That is why it is called The Silozi Seed Bank.
If tree seedlings are planted away from villages, Elephants will go there to eat, away from villages and by increasing the diversity of seed and providing food year round, maybe people will not have the need to poach. We grow chili peppers as well to discourage Elephants from raiding gar