SOME FACTS

• 80% of Tanzanians live in rural areas and depend on dry land for their livelihoods, many of these live in extreme poverty.

• They have some of the best soils and yet the worse yields

• Yields are about 10% of their potential 

• Maize is the major crop but the average yield is 3 bags er acre. In the state of Illinois in the US the average yield is 60 bags.

Maize Wheat Oil seeds and various beans plus other legumes are grown in the wet season and harvested in the dry. In many area they can plant two crops per year. The reasons for the disparity are very simple:

• Over grazing and over ploughing

• soil compaction making it impervious to rain 

• destruction of soil structure

• lack of nutrients and fertiliser

• lack of good seed

• lack of weed control

• little knowledge of modern farming techniques 

• lack of appropriate machinery 

The actual process of changing from a subsistence based farming system to a profitable sustainable agricultural industry is not very difficult. The major obstacles are about changing the worldview and the character of the individual farmers. The importance of good leadership, management, stewardship cannot be overstated.

 

SOME SOLUTIONS

 

Out in the villages we run two day seminars in which we teach Empowered Worldview in the morning and run practical farmer training in the afternoons.

As our whole project is now based at Agape Bible College in Tengeru, Arusha  ( where we lease land for the workshop and storing and demonstration of the machinery, with raining and maintenance) we are integrating our activities into the structure and life around the college. We have integrated Leadership Development and Empowered worldview training into the curriculum - where farmers and leaders have travelled and enrolled here in the program, which helps us achieve training and support to a much wider network efficiently.

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