Malealea Teaching Farm.

The farm actively harvests stormwater, turning what could otherwise cause serious soil erosion into something useful — slowing and capturing rainfall so it soaks into the ground.

A network of contour swales can capture thousands of litres of water from each rainstorm, along with tonnes of topsoil carried down from the fields above, letting the water infiltrate the soil and nourish the land.

With climate change, El Niño cycles and the threat of prolonged drought, storing water in the soil while it rains helps keep moisture in the land through dry periods.

The farm welcomes local schools, farmers and government officials to see sustainable agriculture in action, and to discover ways of farming with nature rather than against it.

Seeing a method working is different from being told about it. A farmer standing beside a swale that has just taken thousands of litres out of a storm, or looking at soil that has had biochar and manure worked into it, can judge for themselves whether it is worth trying on their own land.

Students from Sheffield Hallam University and the National University of Lesotho have worked on the farm too, and Ken Dunn leads tours for visitors — so knowledge moves in several directions at once rather than only outwards from the site.

Together these practices show how sustainable farming can regenerate land, conserve water and build food systems resilient enough to last.