Key person: Norman Tonga
Covid caused many restrictions for people in the Chipata area as church gatherings were banned for six months. Norman said that this was very bad for many people, especially those who do not have their own bibles as they missed any input from the word of God and went backwards spiritually. Some people who would meet early in the morning got caught and the Police came and beat them up with sticks.
Norman was thankful for the bibles that were sponsored two years ago which helped 30 families to be able to connect with God's word through the lockdowns.
The four-hectare farm has been totally cleared now, the work of the brothers and sisters in Christ from the local church. They would all be taken the 20 km in ox carts, leaving at 04:30 and arriving home at 22:00 after working hard in the fields all day. Norman is very thankful for the heart of the people to achieve this.
The nine beehives that were set up have started to produce honey. At present they have 9kg of honey that they are hoping to sell to local honey producers at 15 ZMW per kilo.
The costs of farming inputs have dramatically increased over the last 5 years by up to 400%. A bag of fertilizer now goes for around 1,000 ZMW (US$62).
The partnership farm is now registered as a certified seed grower for soybean seeds with a non-profit Christian development company called Share Africa Zambia (shareafricazambia.com).
The company is set up to give 20kg of good quality seed called Kafue and weed spray chemical as a loan to farmers, which is repaid upon harvest by giving 200kg of soybean seed back. Each farmer is monitored to ensure they have 10m distance to any other soybean variety to ensure no pollination contamination, and that they are growing the crop well. The company then buys the rest of the harvest from the farmers at a good price of 10 to 14 ZMW per kg. Share Africa Zambia has a processing plant in Lusaka where the produce is turned into food products for sale.
The partnership has been involved in this programme for three years now. Last year they decided to try and empower 65 other farmers in their community who were struggling with keeping orphans and vulnerable children. From the partnership farm they stored enough soybean seed from harvest to give each farmer 20kg as a loan and a bottle of weed spray was purchased. Each farmer was trained in Foundations for Farming methods to help ensure a good harvest.
They then were repaid with 200kg of seed on harvest from each of those 65 farmers, meaning they have 6 tons of soybean seed. They sold 4 tons at 10 ZMW and have stored the remainder 2 tons for distribution to farmers again next year. They also sold 1.2 ton from their own farm meaning they have 51,000 ZMW (US$3,187).
Five agents from the partnership group were appointed to follow up and monitor the 65 growers which included transporting the 200kg soybean loan repayment on their own bicycles to a packing station. They were each given a gift of 500 ZMW (US$31) for their efforts.
These funds will be used to buy the weed spray for next season's programme, and the remaining 21,000 ZMW is being used in community projects helping orphans and school leavers set up businesses. The previous year, 2021, they had managed to make some money to buy 10,000 ZMW worth of cement for a local church building.
26 youth have finished school and are now struggling to find employment. Some managed to be trained as teachers but there are no teaching jobs available as the government cannot afford to pay any more teachers. Most of the leavers are now farming, and some have been helped through the farming soybean initiative.
23 orphans in the community are being helped with school requirements of books, uniforms, boarding school fees, and transport.
Last year Bright Hope World agreed to fund an ox cart with two oxen and a ripper. The cart has been purchased, and a driver employed on a piece meal basis. They have started using the cart for transport of people and goods and have made 600 ZMW (US$38) in two months. The main period for potential use will be September to November when they can use the ripper to make planting lines for crops, with minimal disturbance of the soil. The funds raised by the ox cart and ripper will enable the partnership to become more self-sustaining.
Norman is still overseeing the 26 church plants that they have done in the rural area over the past 15 years. He is very thankful for the motor bike that has been funded by a loan given to him that he has now repaid. Prior to Covid, the churches got together and started a bible college at a central church to help teach church leaders. The first year they ran some weekly modules at certain times with outside guest lecturers. Since Covid this had stopped but they are looking to start the programmes up again.
They are going to increase the number of farmers in the soybean production from 65 to 100 for the next planting season with the funds that they have. They are asking if some more funds could be sent to add another 100 farmers to the programme, which would mean they would have to buy new seed and weed spray from Share Africa Zambia at a cost of 450 ZMW per farmer (total 45,000 ZMW or US$2,850).
Our suggestion would be to split this over two years, to add 50 this year and 50 next year.
With the soybean farming programme, one issue has become where to store the seed that they keep for the next year's plantings. Currently Norman somehow manages to store the seed at his house, which is proving increasingly difficult. With the increase in the number of farmers in the programme, they are requesting funds to build a storage shed. This will cover the cost of cement, brick force wire, and iron sheets. The cost is 20,000 ZMW (US$1,250).
Norman is looking forward to a week of learning more about Foundations for Farming to then pass on to the growers in his area. The key is still for them to grow crops with better yields to enable them to be economically empowered.
We will aim to fund some capital costs to help set them up to the level where they are making more funds than what we send to run programmes.
1) Praise for the partnership developed with Share Africa Zambia.
2) Praise for the community response with Agents making themselves available to go and monitor farmers. And for the church members giving up time to clear the 4-ha farm.
It was great to sit and chat with Norman at GLO bible college where he had come to meet us while attending a Bright Hope partner conference and Foundations for Farming training.
The partnership is progressing very well, with the farming being the main driver. The relationship with Share Africa Zambia is very strong with Norman's older brother being employed by them. The company has also started to build a second food processing plant in the Chipata area to take on the increase in supply from local farmers.
I recommend that the current budget remain the same in the meantime although if the additional funds requested are approved by the BHW Exec and funded, there will be the opportunity to reduce future funding, particularly if the expanded soybean programme works as well as this year. We will revisit this after the next season's harvest.