Kisii Foundations for Farming Training 15-18 November

On 14th November 2017 Francis and Jesse travelled to Kisii for a four day training to farmers in two separate locations. They gave two days of training in each of the locations. 

15-16 November 

Before the commencement of the training Francis and Jesse took time to visit two different farms planted using Farming God’s Way (Foundations for Farming). All the surrounding farms planted using the conventional farming system had their maize crop lying on the ground while amazingly the same crops using Farming God’s Way were all standing steady and looking so healthy. That was very encouraging and was due to prior trainings and the implementation by farmers. This also helped them gain trust from the community members.

Later on the training was conducted as had been planned for two consecutive days. Reports concerning the same was given by farmers who had agreed to implement this system. One of them reiterated “I will chop off the hands of anyone who will try to go to my farm to turn the soil at any given time”. That could be extreme, but at least they were convinced and convicted about implementing this method.

By the end of the training almost every farmer present had a request that in 2018 the trainers should be on the ground during the planting season to work with them and help them plant using the Farming God’s Way system. A total of 11 farmers were trained. Others stayed away from the training because they feared that they would be disadvantaged due to illiteracy. 

17-18 November 

On the first day in this location the training was held in the home of one of the farmers. However, the second day they had to move to a church so as to create enough space to accommodate everyone comfortably.

This group was so ignited and excited about this farming system as they recalled the very many years that they used to cultivate land, plant crops and harvest little as opposed to what they get now in terms of quality and quantity. It was so exciting listening to them, how they battled it out to welcome this new system. 

One of the pastors who was in the training requested that another one be organized where most churches are informed and involved.

Another request is that seeds and fertilizer be provided to farmers as a loan that should be paid back at a small interest. This is because most farmers are poor and at times not able to get these inputs on time. 

Here a total of about 15 farmers were trained.

Conclusion
The Farming God’s Way system gains momentum with repeated trainings in the same location. When properly implemented the results are clear as there is less labour involved, less inputs used and good crops with high yields are guaranteed.