Report from BHW Field Director Following Visit in October

Recent Events

Farm Development

It has been a particularly difficult time on the farm development front. The land is low lying and wet and with a significant degree of climate change, the seasons are now irregular. 

Last season the cowshed was started but builders refused to continue because of the wet ground. 

Five paddocks were created but the early rain caused much of the grass seed to fail to germinate. 

One of the paddocks has been planted in Napier grass. Part of it was fertilized and is doing well, the rest was not fertilized and is struggling. When asked why it was not all fertilized a number of reasons (excuses) were put forward, none of which I could understand.   

Chickens

They have decided to do some chickens, two types. They have 150 layers which are going OK but they have to transport the eggs to Nairobi to get enough to make a little profit. These are fertilized eggs and are sent to be hatched. They also have 400 broilers of a local chicken. These have been brought in to be ready for sale at Christmas-time when there is high demand. These have been on site for a month and are doing well. There is great potential for this. They intend to increase the number of layers and broilers over time.  

Maize

They have rented almost two acres of land near to the hostel and planted it in maize. They used some of the Foundations for Farming techniques but because it is rented land and they cannot guarantee they will have it next year they have adapted their approach. It will be interesting see how it works. I asked Oscar to send me a photo of the growth and the neighboring crop to be able to see the comparisons. 

Pre-school

They continue to run a preschool on the property for 40 children. However, this is going to finish at the end of this year. It is not sustainable and nobody pays. 

Current Issues and Challenges

Unfortunately the cows are not getting pregnant so they need to find out why or replace those animals with pregnant ones. 

It is important that John Vlaming, BHW's Agricultural Director, be able to relate to Oscar about the performance of the animals. This line of communication needs to be established. 

Prayer and Praise Points

1) That the cow production unit will begin to function well. This is going to require some reworking of the structure of the partnership. 
2) That the chicken project with both layers and local broilers will become financially viable and begin to generate profit. 
3) That they will find a way to make the cow project successful at generating profit. 

Comments

I talked to Daniel and Oscar a lot about the project and come away frustrated. A new understanding needs to quickly be established. 

The reason we set this up was to generate resources and it is clearly a long way from being able to achieve that. I think they should immediately sell the cows that are not in calf and buy pregnant cows so they can get some income flowing as soon as possible. 

I do not think any further funds should be sent until they come up with a solution to the current situation, or until John has visited and a new strategy has been adopted and approved. Part of that has to be some sort of review of the processes.