It has been a privilege to be able to host and train 31 dynamic and influential people from across Burundi in Foundations for Farming. Some of these people are working for influential local and international NGOs, the government, and as university lecturers. There was a sense of togetherness and acknowledgement that we need a heart change and to seek God’s will for our lives and for Burundi. The practical lessons really challenged the trainees to humble themselves and learn to work as a team and provoked heartfelt discussions that challenged the ingrained cultural dogma of farming. Foundations for farming is not just uplifting people from poverty, but it’s also breaking down evil strongholds that have held many Burundians in bondage particularly in farming and leading them to Jesus. As eyes are open towards farming in God’s ways, we begin to see a faith rise and enthusiasm and many of the trainees have already made composts and are preparing the land ready for Season A in September. 

A commander of a battalion in one of our areas where we have demonstration plots diligently sought after us after visiting our fields accompanied by his bodyguards and the local chief. After meeting him, he explained to us how he was amazed by the crops, all in straight lines, mulched and despite being a summer crop, they had thick stems and big size cobs. He asked us if we could train his soldiers. He said while smiling, “Can you train 160 soldiers so that they can plant 160 pfumvudzas, and I want to invite other commanders and the president to see them?”  What an opportunity that God is opening for us. 

As a church we are thrilled that there is a sense of expansion for our 200 families in crisis we have been supporting with food, milk, shelter, and other needs. It’s a testimony to see that these families are beginning to feed themselves through Foundations for Farming using the pfumvudza concept. Earlier this year, they harvested a full sized pfumvudza and despite us having been supplied with wrong seed for a hot climate, they had an average of 320kg per family which will go a long way. God is good and He is faithful, and He will reward those who follow His ways. 

And this farming year, our families are looking forward to expanding. For those who have been faithful, we are hoping to rent land so that they can have access to two pfumvudzas: one to feed their families and one to sell and bring an income to cover the basic costs of life, such as rent for their homes, medical bills, clothes for their children etc.  This will truly be transformational for our families. 

Key Highlights

Training to a remote community in North of Quebec, Canada: 

This summer we've received yet another great opportunity - an invitation to offer training in a remote northern Canadian first nation community.  Conservation agriculture 'hands on' training has been passed on for 2 consecutive years in a greenhouse and outdoor settings of the Naskapi people in Kawawachikamach's northern Quebec. This year's emphasis was on creating a healthy pH balanced local soil and durable mulch. 

Although the response is few in number of participants, the enthusiasm is ever more present. The familiarity with human beings called to be better stewards of the earth could not be more vivid for a people group that is considered the last nomadic tribal group in North America, still gathering much of their substance from the land and water.

Fresh produce is hard to obtain when transported numerous times before reaching their remote community and many understand more and more the value of 'preventive medicine' within nutritious fruits and vegetable (rhubarb, strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, red beets and cucumbers) and are grateful for those growing in their Naskapi Greenhouse initiative. May our Lord assist us in passing on some of the necessary skills to the younger generation. For His joy, honour and glory forever. 

Key Highlights

90 marginalized community members were trained in FfF and 5 church planters were trained. 

New Joys

We were able to see the result in the field: a very good harvest and they have been sharing pictures and thanking God for the great harvest.

Greetings,

We are delighted to present our very first newsletter, highlighting the achievements of PPC Madagascar (Programme Pfumvudza & Crown), a Non-Governmental Organization founded in March 2023. 

The Pfumvudza method, developed in Zimbabwe, was introduced to Madagascar in 2022 after the coming of Chuck Bentley and Craig Deall to the country in December 2022. Since its creation, PPC Madagascar has carried out numerous activities to promote this method, including:

• A Pfumvudza presentation to 100 mayors and 300 farmers regarding its practical application and benefits in February 2023.

• Setting up a demonstration field in a government training center CAFPA Mahitsy in February 2023. 

• The training of 43 women from the 23 regions of Madagascar in March 2023 in the presence of the First Lady, the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, the Minister of Population and the Minister of Social Protection and Promotion of Women.

• The training of 800 farmers with a few churches carried out by one of the trainers trained in Zimbabwe from March to July 2023.

• The establishment of a demonstration site in Antananarivo, at Ambatolampy Tsimahafotsy, since March 2023 with the following results: 

  • • 4 plots of Pfumvudza 624 m² with mulch

    • 22 units of 1.5 m × 1.5 m × 1.5 m compost produced, 14 of which used for market gardening

    • 1 market gardening plot measuring 34.5 m × 39 m installed

    • Nursery area

    • Harvest: 110 Packchoï plants, 4 kg green beans, 18.4 kg zucchinis

    • Creation of PPC Madagascar Facebook page and a website in August 2023

These activities are the steps taken by the NGO to spread the Pfumvudza method in Madagascar. Our aim is to train as many farmers as possible in this technique to achieve food security and self-sufficiency for all.

PPC Madagascar is currently preparing a training course for 130 young people, aged between 18 and 30, on the Pfumvudza method and the money map in September 2023. This training will be carried out in partnership with the International Labour Organization/ProAgro Youth. We are blessed because we will have the Foundations for Farming and Crown Financial Ministries teams in Madagascar in September 2023.

PPC Madagascar is also in the process of building its capacity to improve on achievements already made and those to come, and to offer more optimized training that meets the needs and context of Madagascar.

Stay tuned for more information on our next exciting progress!

Thank you for your support!

Key Highlights

Hear what the pastors are saying!

3 to 4 months after a financial stewardship workshop, we gathered the attending pastors back together for a refresher to hear if there had been any changes in their lives. Here's what they had to say:

• "I did not know the Bible had so much to say about finances. I am using these truths to counsel couples."

• "There is now peace in the home as my wife and I now budget together."

• "Tithing in our church has more than tripled!"

• "I learned more in these 5 days than I did in 6 years of Bible College!"

Key Highlights

We praise the Lord for His faithfulness. After the last newsletter, we clearly saw God's hand and plan for Namibia.  Two of our trainers Niel and Richard, presented a three-day training to 16 people, near Hochfeld, on the farm of Sara Elago.  And praise God for 12 Namibians who went to Harare for the in-depth training from 3-9 September '23.

New Joys

We praise God for provision of the people who went to the in-depth training, the willingness of Niel and Richard to continue with the FfF training, and also the availability of the farm of Sara Elago. She builds accommodation for students, with a kitchen, hall and everything needed to do trainings. The Lord provides (without us even knowing) in a training center for Foundations for Farming. His plans and ways are amazing, we are in awe!!

Recent Testimony

We received the following report from the trainers:

The training went well with Aunty Sara Elago doing well in terms of organising with the group from the north. People came on time and were very much ready to get into it straight away. The group of people were really ‘hungry’ to learn and grow as well as to apply the training into their own settings where they are from, which is very encouraging.

We want to thank the Lord for how hearts were ready for what we trained on as we presented to the Trainees the way of the Lord, not only farming but living God’s way. The second evening, 7 people gave their lives to Jesus as Richard ministered to them and the following evening several of the Trainees were filled with the Holy Spirit. We explained from the beginning that it is all about the heart and engaged their hearts throughout the course. We are so thankful for the prayers from the Adonai group here in Namibia and the backing from Adonai office and we could clearly see the impact in this group of Trainees.

We look forward to more training to come.

Key Highlights

The Lord keeps opening new doors for us to new people groups and countries to share the FfF vision. After an invitation from a local NGO working with smallholder farmers, Marco from the FfF Netherlands team has traveled to Peru to introduce FfF to three groups in the Piura region in the northern part of the country. The training was well received and we pray that the Lord will provide a local champion and will guide us to next steps to take here.

A similar invitation came in from Thailand and Marco went there to introduce FfF which was enthusiastically welcomed. Although this was only a tiny group of Christians, this FfF introduction was a huge encouragement for them. And we know that we have a God who loves small beginnings! These people live in the poorest part of Thailan, the Mae Hong Son region which is close to the Myanmar border. This means that Rohingya refugee camps are also close – certainly many people who need to hear about Jesus.

In the Netherlands, we introduced the ‘tub garden,’ a small version of the 100-fold garden concept aimed at people in urban environments. The tub garden allows them to experience the wealth of the Lord’s provision through creation, grow some healthy food, and learn about the FfF principles and vision.

One group in Peru trained in making compost

Key Highlights

I'm so grateful and overwhelmed by God for His faithfulness and the open doors that he is providing to allow us to do Foundations For Farming trainings in Panama and the nations of Latin America. God has showed me again and again that He is way bigger than i can explain or imagine. Thanks to FfF and EFI (Equipping Farmers International) I am being trained and equipped with the knowledge and resources that I need to work full-time as a trainer for Panama and Latinamerica. This is a fullfilment of the dream that I have been asking and pursuing God for so long and now is already happening. Right now, we are working hard to establish a training center in Panama where we will be able to consistently train people from Panama and the nations of Latin America. We have been able to raise a team of 6 active trainers for FfF and 2 trainers for Crown and all of them belong to my local church in Panama called "Centro Familiar Vida Nueva" (New Life Family Center). God is providing laborers, resources, land, and everything we need to start doing these trainings and we have faith that He will continue to provide, because we know this is not our work, but His! We are just tremendously honored to be called by God to collaborate with him in this precious commission. Also, in collaboration with Crown and Principio Ministries, we have been able to do a training in Honduras for 16 farmers and we are completed a training at the end of August in Colombia for 30 farmers, also in collaboration with Crown and Fundazion. 

Challenges and New Joys

The challenge that we are facing is that we are looking for the right place to build the training center that is close to the airport, to reduce the costs for the trainings as much as possible, and also has easy access for the transportation that will bring the people to the trainings. We are praying to God to shows us exactly where he wants us to have it and believe that He will provide everything that we will need. 

And we are really joyful for the team that is growing with FfF and Crown in Panama!

Key Highlights

In the month of June, B2R Farms had the privilege of hosting a delegation from the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture at the University of Rwanda College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine (UR-CAVM) campus in Busogo. In addition to meeting with UR-CAVM Principal, Dr. Guillaume Nyagatare, the UT team was able to learn more about Foundations for Farming and B2R Farms' model for training university graduates, farmers, and government extension agents and how FfF and conservation agriculture can be applied within an African context. The group included Dr. Tom Gill, Associate Professor and Chair for International Programs at the Smith Center for International Sustainable Agriculture; Dr. Chika C. Okafor, Associate Professor of Pre-Harvest Food Safety Epidemiology Biomedical and Diagnostics & Director of the Veterinary Public Health Program; Dr. Michael Smith, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Animal Science; Hongwei Xin, Dean and Professor of the AgResearch at the Agriculture Experiment Station; and Mary Shelley-Snell, Global Communications Leader of International Programs. With over 40 years of experience in no-till farming, the UT Institute of Agriculture presents exciting opportunities for further collaboration through knowledge exchanges and summer internships. We look forward to continuing to grow our partnership and learn from each other this year. 

New Joys

The farmers we trained last year were also invited to come in this year's training. Getting to see them again and hear their testimonies of how FfF is changing their lives testifies how the Lord is working.

We hosted our very first in-depth training in May and we were in the privileged position that Darryl and Hazel came to South Africa to present it for us!  We had 22 trainees and already received beautiful feedback from some of the trainees who are already training others in their communities.  We praise God for this! 

Thomas Lubari: “Reaching Kamuli and Buvuma Island with Foundations for Farming. A total of 80 church leaders trained last week in Kamuli and Buvuma District.”

Key Highlights

• Delivering our second training and experiencing growing interest from people in the UK who want to know how to grow their own food.

• Seeing God's hand guiding us in who He wants us to meet, and the connections between certain groups or individuals on our journey.

Challenges and New Joys

Current Challenges:

• Finding a suitable site for the Foundations for Farming station

Joys we are experiencing:

• God's provision for everything

• Reading chapters from Missionary Biographies each evening as a family

• Answers to prayer in the small things of everyday life

Key Highlights

In June, we were blessed with the birth of Dietrich Lee Sanders. I (Noah) had the opportunity over the summer to teach Foundations for Farming to some high school students at a local community garden in a government housing project. I am also continuing to work with them to integrate Foundations for Farming and the Well-Watered Garden Project into curriculum for schools around the state of Alabama. In July, I did a week-long training in New York and am also continuing to work with our growing network of trainers around the U.S. 

Challenges and New Joys

We are really excited about the growth and interest God is bringing to this work in the U.S. and are facing the challenges of managing a growing network of trainers and learning to serve and lead with excellence while maintaining a high standard of family and personal life. 

Key Highlights

Our 2-year project in the South-East corner of Zimbabwe has come to an end and we are blown away by the impact and the results that our faithful trainers have been able to have as they have poured themselves out and served into this vast, rugged corner of the country.

Our team of eight trainers assigned to this project camped along the wild fringes of Zimbabwe's second largest national game reserve for two-weeks every two months to deliver nine modules (climate smart nutrition gardening, agroforestry, range management, compost making, pest and diseases etc) to 390 lead farmers at seven school demo sites throughout the District. These 390 farmers were equipped to teach their neighbours and following our project-end impact evaluation we recorded a total of 2,594 households that had received FfF training over the course of the project. These households represented 11,138 people that have adopted the FfF methodology and are benefiting from increased food security, environmental sustainability and economic benefit! 

Recent Testimony

The greatest impact of the two-year SE Lowveld (SEL) project was the spiritual impact that our faithful team had on the myriad lives that they touched as they served the communities. The training team's demonstration of Incarnational Leadership led to remarkable spiritual growth and acceptance of the message and method within Chipinge District as demonstrated by the widespread adoption and impact captured above. The community remarked that the FfF team were different from all the other NGO's that have tried to help in the past. The FfF team camped in the villages and walked with their hosts while other aid workers parachute in from cushy hotels some distance away from this harsh, hungry, arid, forgotten corner of the planet and flee in large SUVs before the end of every day. I was humbled to see how highly respected our trainers are in the community and thrilled to see them serving and loving the people with courage and compassion. SEL Training Team Leader Titus Tirigu and his faithful band of brothers deserve special mention and high praise for their sacrifice to carry the vision and the Gospel like David Livingstone two centuries ago into the heart of wild Africa where elephants and lions pose a greater threat than heart attacks or traffic accidents.