CC Farm - Trades

Covenant College Farm provides agricultural training for the local farmers. We are stocking the farm with all the local animals as well as gradually introducing new livestock. In all these things we are trying to show the locals other means of earning an income throughout the year instead of relying just upon the rain fed crops during the summer rain season. In addition to the animals and crops we have added bee keeping, bread making and brick making which are three local trades which can also provide additional income to local families.

Bee Keeping

We started off by getting the locals to make us the traditional log hives. We now have eleven of these hanging in the bush areas of the farm. Nine are inhabited by bees and seven are ready to harvest this month (July). We also have eleven Kenyan box hives placed strategically around the farm close to natural beehives found in the hollows of the trees. Bees have entered one and we are waiting for the others to be inhabited. These two types of hives are the best ways of producing honey commercially in Zambia. We are setting up a honey press on the farm and will be encouraging local families in the area to place hives around their villages and to bring their harvest of honeycombs to us. We will buy from them and then process and market the honey. Another idea we hope to develop is to show them how to make jams/chutneys from local fruits. Finding a market for these products locally is difficult as most people cannot afford such things but we can help by taking them to Lusaka where there is a market at good prices.

Bread Making

Our bread is baked outside in a traditional brick oven. A wood fire is started inside and left to burn for a couple of hours whilst the dough is being made. When the dough is ready for the oven the hot embers and ashes are removed. The fire has heated the concrete base and bricks sufficiently to be hot enough to bake the bread. We produce bread rolls, called ‘buns’ locally, for the students, our workers and to sell to the people in nearby villages. We also make a few loaves for ourselves and visitors to the College. This is a simple way of starting a small business and an ideal way for the local ladies to produce something they can sell locally to supplement the home income.

Brick Making

The brick making is done in the local, traditional way that produces good quality bricks. A site is chosen where the soil has a high clay content, usually at the base of a termite mound. The soil is dug out and mixed with water. This soil mixture is placed inside the moulds to shape the bricks, which are then laid out in the sun to dry. They are covered with grass to stop them drying out too quickly and cracking. When sufficient bricks have been moulded they are carefully stacked into a kiln, which has tunnels at the base. Logs are placed inside the tunnels and the kiln caked with mud to seal it. Fires are then started and the tunnels closed leaving the logs to burn slowly which literally bakes the bricks inside the mud encased kiln.