I’ve Never Had Such A Harvest in My Life!
My name is Christopher. I’m married with seven children and depend on farming to support my family. Before I received training, I did not know there was a way to farm that makes your soil fertile instead of depleting it. We learned how to make our own compost, and also how to prepare natural insecticide and fungicide for our vegetables. They also taught us a lot of farm management methods, and how to store our crops after harvesting so we wouldn’t lose them to pests or mold.
I received better maize and soybean seed and cassava cuttings for my 2.5-acre plot. I did a little comparison between the improved maize and some local maize I grew. I harvested 18 110-lb. bags of improved maize and only nine of the local maize, and five bags of soybeans. I have never had such a harvest in my life, even though I used to cultivate more land.
I am ready to sell some of my grain to pay for home, farm and school expenses, and will save some of the money to buy the seed for next season. I’ll pay back a tenth of what I’ve produced so other farmers can receive the same blessing I have. I’m planning on working hard to double the size of my fields. Conservation farming is very good for us small-scale farmers.
On behalf of my family, I thank the organization and all partners for looking into our plight. May God bless you and give back 100 times into your life and resources what you’ve done for us.
Photo caption: Raised-bed vegetable garden
Zambia Northwest Program
Led by Nazarene Compassionate Ministries and local partner NCM Africa
47 communities, 450 households, 4,500 individuals