Travels and Thoughts of Late

Travels and Thoughts of Late

I have been blessed of the last couple of months to be able to travel pretty much for free, had a couple of job offers in Southern Tanzania, so I went down to check them out, my prospective employers paying for me to come and see them, which was sweet.

The first was at Mngeta Farm, way out in the boonies, a huge rice project, about 3000 hectares of workable land, complete with a hydro power station, massive godown/wharehouse area and lots and lots of machinery.

They have a lot of investors from over seas, that need to be reported to on a daily basis, and that is the main job they wanted me to do, as well as assist the crops manager, and manage the office side of things. It wasn’t really my cup of tea, and while I felt I could have fit in quite well, I didn’t feel it was the right place or time for me there.

The second place was just outside of Iringa, a much smaller project, fresh vegetable production. Up there, I was to do a mushroom project and generally assist the owner/manager with his work with the vegetables. I really liked the place and I told him I wanted the job, but he came back to me yesterday, saying it wasn’t really the right timing for them financially.

Frustration – Yes…

Over the last few weeks I have felt toyed with… Something will fall through and then something will come up almost immediately after that.

Right now what I’m looking at doing is unfortunately not farming, but managing my parent’s restaurant/café for a little while, getting the food quality up to scratch and just generally keeping an eye on things.

However there are issues with permits etc… so not entirely sure how it will work, but if it doesn’t, I will move on.

Anyway, back to the main point – Southern Tanzania… it is amazing how the climate, soil and terrain in general can change in such a short distance – about 1100 kilometers from Arusha.

The soil is a sandy clay mix, which goes rock hard in the dry months, but is quite good to work with in the wet. You climb up in altitude about a thousand or so feet, so it makes it quite a lot colder, and the terrain is quite rocky, lots of mountainous areas, and lots of eucalyptus trees. There is a lot of charcoal production going on up there.

It was wonderful to go through Mikumi and Ruaha a couple of times, see a bit more of the country I have called home for as long as I can remember.

It is diverse, rugged and beautiful, and at the same time, a harsh and unforgiving lifestyle.

Farming God's Way Part 2

I am back and I am jazzed!
I loved it it was amazing~!
The teaching I have sort of been through already, but is was great to see a lot of people really taking it in, and the way Carl emphasized different things, like not being perfectionists, but still bringing our standards up that much higher so as to achieve a profit and a better way of life.
The main focus of FGW is to break the yoke of poverty that has held Africa captive for generations.
Wow, that is a massive task, and I am stoked that FGW has such a big vision and heart for Africa!
It was a privilege to be a part of it and very exciting to see people start to click, and see the increase of farmers just like them, in some cases from seven 50 kg bags per hectare to 70 in one season!
this is exciting to be a part of!
I want to see this take a root here, really... people here are so stubborn and unwilling/afraid to change... but with the grace of God they will get there.
So the low down on this method -
There are 4 key factors -
we must do things 1) on time 2) with minimal wastage 3) to a high standard and 4) we must do all this with joy!
What an amazing concept!
Yet it is very hard for Africans to all these simple things. People are rarely on time, to them being on time means its acceptable to be two hours late (or more) to a meeting, or else they don't bother to show up at all.... so much is wasted here. The plastic bags and bottles, tins etc... that are scattered around Arusha alone could all be recycled and the environment would be so much better. That is just one small example. People waste time... so much time. They waste resources, they burn crop residue...
Things here are rarely at a high standard,service at local hotels/restuarants etc... is 'kinyedgie' at best, and many tasks are done half heartedly/poorly.

There is a lack of joy, because there is nothing to look forward to. With this method we are to expect God to bless the effort of our backs and the work and sweat of or hands and brow. we can look forward to a bountiful harvest.
Another major thing is the use of God's blanket.
God's blanket is basically a covering on and around the land/plants.
it is made up of leaves, twigs, compost (if available), grass and crop residue.
As mentioned before, people burn or feed their crop residue to their cows.
This I see to be the biggest problem with the change.
In the dry season there is no grass for the cows, so they need food... problem... ah lets use the crop residue... unfortunately people may have to make the decision to either be crop farmers or herdsmen...
Some people can do both... if they are willing to try.
Another thing I found really interesting that Carl emphasized, was the fact that without the blanket the topsoil is eroding away and that is their children and grandchildrens inheritance.
The method is very simple... don't plough, don't burn/waste crop residues, leave it for the blanket, and add to it! the spacing is also very important 65 cm/70 cm... three seeds per hole, (thinning them at about 3 weeks) to acheive a total of 44,440 plants per hectare.
they have researched this thorougly and found that the spacing of 65/70 brings just as much yeild as 1.5 m/65 but because of the space wastage there is less per hectare.
Wow...
it's simple and effective, I can't wait to see results!
One guy I know froim my En Gedi days, Ephraim, got up at the end to give a short testimony on his experience with this method... he said that he had used this method, and planted two plots to compare - one the conventional way and one Farming God's way. He didn't have much mulch covering for his FGW plot, but he still reaped double what he got from his (larger) conventional plot! Praise God... that is so encouraging!
If you want more info and material please check out www.farming-gods-way.org

Farming God's Way Confrence

This weekend is one I’ve been looking forward to for a while!

It is the Farming God’s Way conference for the first time in Arusha Tanzania!

I have worked before with Renee’ Moose on implementing the method with local farmers here in the Olkerian district, so I learned a lot about it… It is really amazing the approach to farming, using what you have, to glorify God and make a profit while feeding your family and animals…

This method of farming was first used in Zimbabwe, and the man behind it all is Brian Oldrieve. You can find out more here.

I am excited to actually see and learn it first hand from the founders of the organization, rather than just translate and learn as I do it!

It should be an inspiring and fun weekend!

I will post more details on all I’ve learned and experienced next week, so stay tuned.

This may very well be the answer for African agriculture, one can only hope.

The First Run...

This blog is about not only running in the physical term, but metaphorically, about Africa and it's progress, slow but sure, into modernisation of economic, social and particularly Agriculture. There are things that should not be changed about it... it's people, their culture and quirks, but then again there are destructive parts of all cultures, and who's to say people can't change for