Zambia: Farmers turn to gliricidia to improve soil fertility Raphael Banda | June 11, 2023 soil-fertility Share this: Twitter Facebook Download this story It’s a cool morning around 10 o’clock, with a clear blue sky. The wind is blowing gently and Josephine Tembo is busy inspecting her maize crops that are intercropped with a tree called Gliricidia sepium . The 53-year-old farmer looks at the maize cobs full of smiles because she is sure she’ll have a bumper harvest. Mrs. Tembo plucks a dry maize cob from a nearby stalk and whistles a joyful tune. She continues checking moisture on the cobs to determine the right time to start harvesting. She says: “I learned about the benefits of intercropping maize with gliricidia in 2016 on Radio Breeze in Chipata, here in Zambia. I tried it the same farming season and the harvest was very good.” Mrs. Tembo is a small-scale farmer who lives in Kakumbi village in Mambwe district, about 120 kilometres from Chipata city in the eastern province in