What this is all about

The first cooperation will be formed in our own area. Carl will go out now in harvest time to find those with the poorest yield, the worse crops. He will try and find families with land (people don’t own land, it is communal, but use land) that will add up to an approximate 30 hectares.

He will sit then with these families and ask if they would like to participate in the co-operation. If so, on paper they give us the right to their land for three years. They prepare it when the rainy season comes, as soon as the first proper rains fall, we come with a small tractor, rip the land, fertilize and plant. All at our own cost. This is done according to the principles of conservation farming. If followed, in three years we should be able to give the land back to them in much better condition:

1.      planting on time (they often wait to borrow oxen deep into the planting season)

2.      using no –till methods,

3.      using crop rotation (not just planting maize every year),

4.      and using a blanket of compositing material.

We should be able to significantly increase yields.

In return they will received a guaranteed 40 bags of maize (so no money business), spread over the year, so we can assure that they have food over the whole year. They will see first-hand how the farming techniques can better their yields. It will not only be head-knowledge, but they would have experienced the whole process. And it gives us an open door to so much more. Hopefully, they will come to a point where they ask: why? And then we have an opportunity to tell them about the One who really cares, who created them and know the amount of hairs on their heads. There will be monthly meetings to open up conversation, share knowledge, give input into health issues etc.

Storing the harvest, and then selling it when the prize is better, should ensure that we can break even on costs. There will be extra income through out the year, such as storage for non-participants, transport to the markets for a decent prize, which will positive effect the whole community.   

There will be much more detail, but is the broad outline.

Once the program is running it should stay self-propelling. The biggest cost will be to kick-off. So far, Hope Builders Ministries has helped us to begin building storage, and purchasing our first tractor (the tractors instead of hand-planting is because we have to cover so much land in a very short period of time).

In a few years, it should be able to duplicate the program in other parts of Zambia. Through the pastors that work with Hope Builders Ministries, we have a link to just about the whole country. The ideal would not be for the pastor to have to run such a cooperation, since it will take from his time that is focused on the ministry. But he does know his community, know who could manage such a system, and who might benefit from participation.

And thus it might be a cooperation that keeps growing, influencing many people on the way- both physically, but more importantly, spiritually.

Nongo, is a Tonga word and refers to the widow’s claypot. The oil that kept streaming from the pot provided in the widow’s families physical needs, but also assured them that they are important to God. And it changed their lives forever.