Jacana celebrates 10th anniversary

Support small-scale African entrepreneurs
10 years ago, Dinie Nijssen and Rik Haanen came up with the idea to set up a foundation after many wanderings in Africa. For us, it was important that we reach people who normally do not receive much support, but who do deserve it and can make leaps forward with a little support. These eventually became small scale entrepreneurs who have been working hard for at least two years to keep their business alive.
Jacana at Team Notarissen

Registration “stichting Jacana” 2015

What could be more rewarding than working with and for enthusiastic people who are fighting their way out of extremely difficult circumstances?

We are indescribably grateful to everyone who makes this work possible for us.

Water is life

Zambia is a country where it doesn’t rain for six months, making life difficult for many households. The Marie-Stella-Maris Foundation is sponsoring pumps for household use for 50 families. Jacana believes clean drinking water is essential, but now that families have year-round access to water, it’s important that they also generate income from it. When a family earns money from the water, it’s incredibly motivating to properly maintain the pump. After all, no water means no income.

Jacana selects families who have the space to start a vegetable garden at a safe distance from the pump. These families receive training consisting of four components. To maintain healthy soil, Jacana provides training in organic farming techniques.

  • Organic Compost Production Training
    Farmers learn to make four different types of compost: Bokashi, Berkerley compost, compost tea, and Lab serum. All of these can be made using locally available materials.
  • Organic Pest and Disease Management Training
    Farmers learn how to make their own pesticides using locally available materials and how to apply them.
  • Seedling and Land Preparation Training
    Farmers learn how to create a good seedling bed and how to prepare the land for transplanting seedlings.
  • Seedling Transplanting Training
    Once the seedlings are ready, they need to be transplanted. Farmers learn about spacing, fertilization, disease prevention, and maintenance.
Land preparation and vegetable garden

After the training, each farmer receives individual guidance from Jacana staff, and the farmers have the opportunity to visit and learn from each other.

Donation

By 2025, 44 other farmers had already received the agricultural training. These farmers and their neighbours are very grateful for having clean water for domestic use and a fenced-in vegetable garden at home.

Jacana would like to offer agricultural training to the 50 farmers who get a partly sponsored pump in 2026, but unfortunately we don’t have all the funding yet. Therefore, we are requesting a small contribution to this project.

€4,000 is needed to train 10 farmers. If you would like to support small farmers in Zambia, please donate here.

  • Received until 5 Jan 2026 € 6,977 of € 20,000 35% 35%

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