Phil's ZMS Newsletter - February 2008

Covenant College Farm

Once again the result of late planting and heavy rains are showing the problems the people here have with growing their ‘life-line’ crop of maize. Many people plant late for various reasons and do not use fertiliser because they can’t afford it or do not save up for it. The result is short, yellow plants which will bear a small harvest of maybe 6 x 50kg bags per lime (qtr hectare). Even those that manage to get fertiliser but grow in the traditional way of planting late, ploughing and applying fertiliser 2-3 weeks after germination are far from maximising the potential crop yield. This way they will still only get 10-15 bags per lima. However once again the method we learnt and are teaching and using at Covenant College called FARMING GOD’S WAY is proving to be amazing. No doubt increased by God’s blessing. Our FGW fields (see left) are over two metres tall, flowering and the cobs are already well formed. You can download the FGW leaflet from the ZMS website which explains the method. It takes 3-4 hours to teach it fully so I don’t have space to do that here!!

We have used this method at Old MacDonald’s Farm in Lusaka and the project in Chiperamba valley outside Chipata which is supported by Coppice Baptist Church, UK. The results are the same at each place and expected yields are 30- 40 bags per lima! A family of 2 adults and 8 children (includes 3-4 family orphans) requires 24 bags per year to give them two meals a day of nshima (maize meal). The problem is plain to see as is the solution! But how to overcome the difficulties they face in obtaining sufficient income to buy fertiliser and to change from tradition needs a lot of prayer and wisdom.

We are inviting church groups, the Headmen of all surrounding villages, local agricultural officers and many others to view the fields and have the method explained. Pray that they will become diligent in what they learn. The situation is highlighted at the moment because of the poor crops last year. Food is short and each morning men and women are coming to the farm seeking work for food. We are harvesting our cassava fields for this purpose but cannot cope with the number that are coming. One morning around 20 men and 30 women were waiting for us at our 7 am devotion time.

In spite of these difficulties the children continue to laugh and have fun and these are two playing outside our new Hammer Mill which is now in full operation. Every day people from the nearby villages are bringing maize for grinding on their bicycles and their ox-carts. Before we opened they had to travel several kms further with their 50kg bags to get their maize ground. It’s also an opportunity to increase the awareness of the work going on both at the College and on the farm.

Trip to Zimbabwe

I have been invited to a ‘Farming God’s Way’ conference in Harare during the first week of March to share our experiences in the Eastern Province of Zambia. Some 18 years ago my first trip to Africa was to Zimbabwe and therefore the first place I landed in Africa was Harare. I’m not sure if I realised after that first trip that one day I would be working out here but I know that God knew! It will interesting going back to the place where I first arrived on this continent.

Door of Hope

Recently I flew to Jo’burg for one night with my friend Duncan to visit an organisation saving abandoned babies called Door of Hope. It’s well worth checking out their website.

www.holeinthewall.org.za

PRAYER POINTS

• Pray for a safe trip to Zimbabwe
• Pray for wisdom in trying to get the FGW message to the people and that the Gospel will shine through this farming method
• Pray for the people that they will realise that by diligent farming the problems of hunger can be avoided here in Zambia.

Thank you for your continued support

Love Phil