A WEST Devon man has travelled back to Swaziland to help establish the next stage of a project to equip youngsters in poor communities with the skills to become organic farmers. Phil Holland from Hatherleigh went to the African country two years ago but has just embarked on a return trip to see in person the progress which has been made on the organic plots he helped to create in a village near the capital city Mbabane. Phil said he had been kept updated with the progress of the original project and was pleased with its success. ?They have continued to finish off the organic project and have taken the knowledge out into the field, so to speak, and have passed that knowledge on through practical demonstrations in other areas and adjacent communities,? he said. Phil said the original project had been a ?100 per cent success?. He said it was, to his knowledge, the only organic garden in the country and had enabled villagers to sell and supply organic vegetables and herbs to local outlets. Phil said the next stage of the project would be to create a youth training centre to instruct local youths into the practices of organic farming. He said this time the scheme would be larger and more biased towards farming and not horticulture, with the aim of establishing a sustainable working farm. Phil is visiting Africa during the growing season, when the weather is expected to be very hot and very wet. He is expecting to be in Swaziland for five or six weeks, although his travel arrangements are flexible. The trip has been financed largely out of Phil?s own pocket. This centre would be run as part of an HIV/Aids awareness programme ? the country has one of the highest infection rates in Africa. More information about the project is available on Phil?s website http://www.organicfarmingaid.co.uk">www.organicfarmingaid.co.uk
