Report from BHW Zambia Partnership Facilitator

Key people: Edwin Chama and David Power

Since 2023, Bright Hope World has reduced support for GLO to only focus on the agricultural components of the GLO ministries, that aim to give students and the surrounding communities sustainable ways to live through agriculture.

Edwin Chama is the agricultural director at GLO and is responsible for the demonstration gardens and training programs of local people in Foundations for Farming. Edwin has been teaching Foundations for Farming at other institutions 11 years prior to his joining GLO in 2020.

Edwin also helps Bright Hope World with training courses run for our partners at GLO, and occasional follow up visits to partners in Zambia. 

Recent Events

Demonstration Garden

The demonstration garden has been established to provide an example to the local people and to students that come for the theological courses how a garden and field can be well run and provide for families.

The garden consists of a field of maize, soyabeans, other vegetables such as pumpkins, rape, and beans.

There are also livestock, a fishpond and some broiler chickens for meat supply.

From the vegetable production area of the demonstration garden, following the sale of Chinese cabbage and pumpkin and they have made a profit of ZMK1,050 (US$40). 

Community Trainings

Since August 2023 Edwin has been training various groups of people from local churches close to the locality of GLO. There are currently two groups running, consisting of farmers below the poverty line in the area who have shown interest in bringing themselves up through the Foundations for Farming techniques. In total 48 farmers are being assisted, 12 men and 36 women along with 6 youths.

The first group in Sakania met up twice a week, every Wednesday and Saturday. The second group in Kaniki meets once per week, every Friday.

Due to a severe drought in the rainy season from November 2023 to May 2024, Edwin focused on the method of mulching to make sure any water through rain that came was protected and used by the crops rather than run off and evaporate.

Currently Edwin is working on a proposal of how to further help these community members with micro-loan empowerment to provide them with the resources to grow their own fields and provide for their families. 

Bright Hope World Training Courses

This is a group of OM missionaries from Niger, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe Chad, Congo DR, Ghana and our local Zambian famers after teaching them in Foundations for Farming.

Edwin ran a training course for these people for Bright Hope World, to enable the missionaries to have the skills to farm and provide for their families while on the mission field around Africa. The training was exciting, inspiring, and challenging to the participants and Edwin as a trainer. Most of the participants came from French speaking countries and as a trainer coming from an English-speaking background, it was interesting and fun with different cultural backgrounds.

The weeklong course covered the basics of Foundations for Farming, and also covered cropping, vegetable growing and tree planting, as seen in the photo.

Steve from Sierra Leone but serving the Lord in Niger, applauded the training and said that he now has a skill that can help him enter the Sahel region as a trainer in conservation farming without many questions from the immigration officers of that country.  

Bright Hope World Partnership Visits

Power Christian Ministries (ZAM09)
Boyd Mokola and Morgan Besa (pictured) were trained by Edwin in Foundations for Farming in 2022. Since then, Edwin has been visiting them to follow up and encourage the men in farming, but also bring the light of God to this village area.

The first year they planted maize with a reasonable result, which was far above the yields of traditional farming methods in the area. The second year they planted soyabeans, but there has been a problem due to the drought in Zambia, meaning sadly the crops are a loss. The picture shows the field of soyabeans, which has not grown well due to the lack of rain.

On the last visit Edwin decided to help them set up vegetable gardens, to try and provide income for the people. Seeds were purchased and training was given.   

Plans for the Future

Edwin is sponsored by Bright Hope World until August 2025, at $300 per month paid quarterly.

We are currently waiting for some proposals from Edwin regarding the community farming training programs which may require some funding.