Key people: Steven and Rosemary Daka
The rains in the Chipata area have been very poor this season. Most of the farmers planted ok, and the seeds did germinate, but then there was no rain for 3 to 4 weeks and most crops dried up. This has meant a big loss for people, with some not even bothering to go to the fields to harvest as there are no cobs on the maize plants.
The local people here know they are going to suffer this year. Prices to buy maize and mealy meal are very high already and will go even higher towards the end of the year. Some people may find some piece work to try and support themselves, but they have no maize reserves stored to feed their families. To try and purchase mealy meal is a problem. They must make the journey from Mchacha village all the way to Chingola town, about 40km, and then get in a queue. If they don’t arrive around 04:00 hours in the morning, the mealy meal will be gone, and they will go home empty handed.
Theft has become a major problem for anyone who does have a little maize. Thieves are entering any field at night that has got something and harvesting, so when the owner comes in the morning, there is nothing. One man went to his field at 17 hours one evening to find three thieves stealing his maize. When he confronted them, they killed him and left him in the field.
There are 19 orphans on the programme now, an increase of two from last year. As requested by Steven, there was an increase in funds sent in terms two and three to cover some school supplies for the orphans.
Most of the orphans are doing well in school, other than three who are struggling. These ones are being encouraged to achieve better results and to commit themselves to make the most of the opportunities they have been given.
With many of the orphans being at boarding school, they meet them when they come back to the village every three months, to encourage them.
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They are still seeing big benefits in the orphans' programme. So many who have completed grade 12 have gone on to live their lives well. There are nurses, teachers, medical officers, road workers and café workers, as well as subsistence farmers.
They have a plan to start up more basic skills training, starting with knitting and tailoring. Once they identify an orphan school leaver who has an interest in these skills, they will send them for training, and then they will come back to instruct others in the community.
Steven has managed to purchase a motorbike with the help of a small loan which is to be repaid over three years, at the end of each harvest from his fields. The amount will be deducted from the payment Bright Hope World makes for the orphans' programme in August each year.
This motorbike has really helped the ministry, enabling Steven to move up and down when visiting the rural churches in the area. He has also been able to start a small transport business in town offering rides to people. He normally is able to make a profit of 100ZMK per day after all costs of fuel, maintenance and on road costs.
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Rosemary is pictured showing her compost manure that she had prepared by November 2023, for the planting of maize. She is very thankful as she harvested 14 bags from the 3 lima she planted (3/4 hectare). Even though this yield is low, given the drought at least it is something that she will be able to sustain herself with for the whole year.
The area is having many issues with farming. As a church, they are not wanting to promote the growing of tobacco which is becoming a major crop in the region. There is a Japanese owned company who are offering loans for seed, fertilizer and chemicals to growers to plant tobacco with a guaranteed price at harvest. They are currently getting 80ZMK (US$3.30) per kilo of dried tobacco leaf and for the farmers this is a very good deal, and tobacco is very much drought resistant.
This year for the soyabean programme, the aim was to increase the number of seeds per farmer to 25kg and to double the number of farmers on the programme from eight to 16. From the 2022–2023 season they kept 450kg of harvest to run this programme, but no growers wanted to plant soyabeans because of the option to grow tobacco and the low price achieved for soyabeans last year. The price last year was just 6ZMK (US$0.25) per kilogram, half what it had historically been.
The decision was therefore made to discontinue the farming programme. The soyabeans were sold and the funds used in the orphans’ programme.
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After stocking the fishpond in January 2023, they harvested it for the first time in July 2023. The harvest was good, although they were expecting more smaller fingerlings to keep for the next harvest. A variety of fish called “bamboo fish” were present in the stock, which eat other fish eggs and smaller fingerlings therefore causing this issue.
They harvested the pond all at once, which caused Steven an issue as he had to “go fast” to find markets. He managed to sell some in the village, with the price of 30ZMK per three fish, and then took the rest to Chingola town where he received the same price.
The initial budget they provided was correct re the costs, but the sales suffered. The estimated price of 15ZMK per fish was reduced to 10ZMK, and then there were also the losses due to bubble fish eating the tilapia fish thereby reducing the numbers.
In total the income was 11,000ZMK, less the costs of 4,700ZMK showing a profit of 6,300ZMK (US$250).
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Due to the lack of rain, they have not restocked the fishpond yet as the pond will likely run dry before the next rains. They have used the profit to buy maize to store, and then sell at a higher price later in the year.
They plan to restart the fishpond but will first apply chemicals to remove the bubble fish, and next time will harvest in stages according to the market demand to avoid having to have a quick-fire sale.
With so many local farmers failing to harvest maize, people are facing a whole year with a severe lack of food. Steven and Rosemary have requested if there can be a relief fund, where they can buy some bags of maize now while the price is a bit cheaper, store it, and then hand out depending on families in the community's needs. They will give out maize on the condition that people commit to giving the same amount of maize back after harvest in June 2025 with a small increase in the amount. This maize can then be used again for anyone who is struggling in the next season.
They are aiming to purchase 20 x 50kg bags for this programme. The cost is approx. US$500 including all the costs of purchasing, transportation (note there is no maize in their immediate area so they will have to travel far to purchase), packing and storage. (BHW has subsequently sent these funds to them to enable them to purchase this maize.)