{"id":1470,"date":"2014-07-25T13:24:21","date_gmt":"2014-07-25T12:24:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/new\/uk\/news\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/"},"modified":"2016-12-21T16:22:53","modified_gmt":"2016-12-21T16:22:53","slug":"musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/","title":{"rendered":"Musical farmer strikes the right chord"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Misheck Mwanza struck just the right chord when his band topped the Zambian charts with their single \u201cLazy people run away from farming\u201d a quarter century ago.<\/p>\n<div class=\"x-resp-embed x-is-video x-is-youtube\"><iframe width=\"877\" height=\"493\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Sc3cLzIrz-I?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>But the song didn\u2019t last and a career in music didn\u2019t last either for Misheck, who with his band \u2018The Five Senses\u2019 made the long journey home from capital city Lusaka to farm around Chipata district in the far east of the country, three years later.<\/p>\n<p>Today, Misheck is a lead farmer working with Self Help Africa, using his immaculately tended four-acre farm holding as a demonstration plot where he promotes a range of innovative \u2018climate smart\u2019 agricultural techniques to his neighbours and close to 100 other farm families around Bendo village.<\/p>\n<p>A self-taught guitarist who first picked up an instrument when he was in his teens, Misheck Mwanza was newlywed when he and his young wife Gertrude set off for Lusaka and a career in music, in 1984.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the fact that \u2018The Five Senses\u2019 had four popular hits within the space of two years and received regular radio airplay, Misheck says that they received just 10% royalties on their record sales, while the music was also pirated and sold on cassette tape more often than it was bought officially.<\/p>\n<p>In 1987 they called it a day and returned to Bendo, and set about farming a plot of scrubland given to them by the village chief. Shortly afterwards the couple\u2019s first child, a daughter was born. They named her \u2018Nature.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Today, Misheck and his family grow maize, as well as cabbage, tomatoes, onions and other vegetables on a plot that is criss-crossed with irrigation channels, and on which he employs crop rotation, and uses an array of conservation agriculture techniques including zero tillage, composting, manure making and fertility basins. \u2018<\/p>\n<p>We used to struggle to make enough for a young family, but today we have a good business,\u2019 Mishek Mwanza says. \u2018I have been supported with training to become a lead farmer, and grow and sell different crops, as well as giving advice and training to others.\u2019 Misheck Mwanza says it\u2019s as true as ever today that, to quote the song: \u2018Lazy people run away from farming\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>But not for a moment would he change his life or leave the land that he farms. He has long since sold his guitar, has no copies of his old records, nor any press cuttings from his day in music. He does occasionally hear his songs on the radio however, but says that he has not a single regret that he\u2019s a hard-working farmer today.<\/p>\n<p>Self Help Africa has supported training for thousands of \u2018lead\u2019 (extension) farmers in projects across Zambia, providing them with training, seed, and other inputs so that they can assist and train others in their communities in practical and effective methods to make their small-farms more productive.<\/p>\n<p>(<em>Pictured: \u00a0Season and Vengi Mwanza watering crops. Inset: Mischek Mwanza. \u00a0Below: Gertrude Mwanza with daughters Alida, Beatrice, Jenny and Vera on their farm).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Misheck Mwanza struck just the right chord when his band topped the Zambian charts with their single \u201cLazy people run away from farming\u201d a quarter century ago. But the song didn\u2019t last and a career in music didn\u2019t last either for Misheck, who made the long journey home from capital city Lusaka to take up farming again. <\/p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/\"> Read More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1469,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[637,679],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.8 (Yoast SEO v22.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Musical farmer strikes the right chord - Self Help Africa UK<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Musical farmer strikes the right chord\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Misheck Mwanza struck just the right chord when his band topped the Zambian charts with their single \u201cLazy people run away from farming\u201d a quarter century ago. But the song didn\u2019t last and a career in music didn\u2019t last either for Misheck, who made the long journey home from capital city Lusaka to take up farming again.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Self Help Africa UK\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SelfHelpAfrica\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-07-25T12:24:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-12-21T16:22:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2014\/07\/guitarist-farmer-650.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"412\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Self Help Africa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@selfhelpafrica\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@selfhelpafrica\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Self Help Africa\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Self Help Africa\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/#\/schema\/person\/6eab0d895e1f38327e58c354b36cb226\"},\"headline\":\"Musical farmer strikes the right chord\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-07-25T12:24:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-12-21T16:22:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/\"},\"wordCount\":515,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2014\/07\/guitarist-farmer-650.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\",\"Zambia\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/\",\"name\":\"Musical farmer strikes the right chord - Self Help Africa UK\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2014\/07\/guitarist-farmer-650.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-07-25T12:24:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-12-21T16:22:53+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2014\/07\/guitarist-farmer-650.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2014\/07\/guitarist-farmer-650.jpg\",\"width\":650,\"height\":412,\"caption\":\"guitarist-farmer-650\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Musical farmer strikes the right chord\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/\",\"name\":\"Self Help Africa UK\",\"description\":\"Farming for Africa&#039;s Future\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Self Help Africa UK\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2015\/06\/self-help-africa-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2015\/06\/self-help-africa-logo.png\",\"width\":176,\"height\":56,\"caption\":\"Self Help Africa UK\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SelfHelpAfrica\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/selfhelpafrica\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/selfhelpafrica\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/selfhelpafrica\/\",\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@selfhelpafrica\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/#\/schema\/person\/6eab0d895e1f38327e58c354b36cb226\",\"name\":\"Self Help Africa\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6e2dca8a26863549508039ead6cfa23a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6e2dca8a26863549508039ead6cfa23a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Self Help Africa\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/author\/jason\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Musical farmer strikes the right chord - Self Help Africa UK","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Musical farmer strikes the right chord","og_description":"Misheck Mwanza struck just the right chord when his band topped the Zambian charts with their single \u201cLazy people run away from farming\u201d a quarter century ago. But the song didn\u2019t last and a career in music didn\u2019t last either for Misheck, who made the long journey home from capital city Lusaka to take up farming again.","og_url":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/","og_site_name":"Self Help Africa UK","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SelfHelpAfrica\/","article_published_time":"2014-07-25T12:24:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-12-21T16:22:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":650,"height":412,"url":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2014\/07\/guitarist-farmer-650.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Self Help Africa","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@selfhelpafrica","twitter_site":"@selfhelpafrica","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Self Help Africa","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/"},"author":{"name":"Self Help Africa","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/#\/schema\/person\/6eab0d895e1f38327e58c354b36cb226"},"headline":"Musical farmer strikes the right chord","datePublished":"2014-07-25T12:24:21+00:00","dateModified":"2016-12-21T16:22:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/"},"wordCount":515,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2014\/07\/guitarist-farmer-650.jpg","articleSection":["News","Zambia"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/","url":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/","name":"Musical farmer strikes the right chord - Self Help Africa UK","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2014\/07\/guitarist-farmer-650.jpg","datePublished":"2014-07-25T12:24:21+00:00","dateModified":"2016-12-21T16:22:53+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2014\/07\/guitarist-farmer-650.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2014\/07\/guitarist-farmer-650.jpg","width":650,"height":412,"caption":"guitarist-farmer-650"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/musical-farmer-strikes-the-right-chord\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Musical farmer strikes the right chord"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/","name":"Self Help Africa UK","description":"Farming for Africa&#039;s Future","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/#organization","name":"Self Help Africa UK","url":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2015\/06\/self-help-africa-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2015\/06\/self-help-africa-logo.png","width":176,"height":56,"caption":"Self Help Africa UK"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SelfHelpAfrica\/","https:\/\/x.com\/selfhelpafrica","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/selfhelpafrica\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/selfhelpafrica\/","https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@selfhelpafrica"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/#\/schema\/person\/6eab0d895e1f38327e58c354b36cb226","name":"Self Help Africa","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6e2dca8a26863549508039ead6cfa23a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6e2dca8a26863549508039ead6cfa23a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Self Help Africa"},"url":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/author\/jason\/"}]}},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2024-07-29 16:18:13","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1470"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1470\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}