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It is estimated that there are over 500 million small farms worldwide that provide the living space for 2/3 of the developing world’s population. More than 2 billion people rely on small farms for their survival and livelihood. There is a crisis, however, in the ability of those small farms to be productive enough to sustain the people depending on them. Even more so there is a crisis in African agriculture when it comes to productivity. Average yields across the continent are not meeting the food needs of farmers. Smallholder farmers cultivate on average less than 0.90 ha per farm.[1] Maize yields on those small allotments have been recorded on average as low as .35 t ha.[2] The Farming God’s Way Trainers Reference Guide records that an average African family needs 1.25 t of maize to fulfill their yearly calorie requirements.[3] The crisis is evident! In most cases, farmers are not able to grow the basic calorie requirement for their yearly family needs. This shortfall creates a yearly food debt in communities. Year after year communities are not growing what they need to survive let alone thrive and create business opportunity.
Surely this reality is not what God originally intended for Africa! God is a god of abundance and thriving. Moses reminded the Israelites of God’s character in Deuteronomy 8, “For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land—a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing…But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.”[4] The agricultural lands in Africa ought to be providing abundantly for Africans to a point where people lack nothing. God wants to empower people to produce and increase their wealth for the benefit of thriving communities, but that is not the current reality being experienced. Something is broken and a solution is needed.
Agricultural reports record that potential yields for maize should be more than 7.8 t ha which has been obtained on farm trials. Yields could actually be more than 3 times what people are currently harvesting and likely even more. God’s wonderful creation is able to produce far more than is being realized currently. The mission of Inundo Development farm is to teach people to grow food in ways that enables them to realize abundant yields from their land. Inundo teaches sustainable farming and God centred approaches to agriculture. The model farm exists to raise up leaders that are equipped to teach Farming Gods Way as a path to transforming communities, helping people to return to God, and bringing holistic development through faith-based agriculture. January 2024 was a busy month at the farm with the beginning of two internships and the preparations for the Farming Gods Way national training in March. Pray with us for Dumi and Khaye who will spend 10 months at Inundo learning to farm with God at the centre. Pray for the resources for Inundo to continue training leaders in Ethiopia. Pray for huge impact at our National Training in March.
NOTES
[1] Zerssa,G.;Feyssa,D.;Kim, D.-G.; Eichler-Löbermann, B. Challenges of Smallholder Farming in Ethiopia and Opportunities by Adopting å-Smart Agriculture. Agriculture 2021, 11, 192. https://doi. org/10.3390/agriculture11030192 (page 3)
[2] Zerssa,G.;Feyssa,D.;Kim, D.-G.; Eichler-Löbermann, B. Challenges of Smallholder Farming in Ethiopia and Opportunities by Adopting å-Smart Agriculture. Agriculture 2021, 11, 192. https://doi. org/10.3390/agriculture11030192 (page 3)
[3] Grant Dryden, Farming God’s Way Trainers Reference Guide, 2009, GW Dryden, South Africa, farming-gods-way.org
[4] Zondervan NIV Study Bible (K. L. Barker, Ed.; Full rev. ed.). (2002). Zondervan. Deuteronomy 8: 7-9, 18
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