Finding Family Through Farming

In one West African country, thousands of farmers face the prospect of starvation every year because of severe drought, exhausted crops, and salt contamination.

These plagues not only affect the farmers themselves, but also their families, the extended communities that rely on their produce to eat nourishing meals, and the men and women who make their livelihoods off of the sale and distribution of their crops. This means that one farm’s failure to produce a reliable crop affects hundreds, if not thousands, of hard-working people. 

Here’s where you are filling an urgent need for these communities: you are funding a series of community development trainings for farming families where they will be taught how to use water sources wisely, how to best nurture their soil, and how to keep their animals healthy. The goal is for every person trained to then pass along the valuable information they will learn to their friends and fellow farmers, creating a well-informed, successful agriculture network. 

The trainings you are providing are thorough and hands-on, with each seminar including live demonstrations with a water well, cows, solar pumps, and working irrigation systems! 

Perhaps the most valuable result of this project has been the formation of real community in these agricultural societies. Churches and local faith leaders have gotten involved. Families are sharing new techniques and farming strategies with each other over meals. Students in the trainings are building meaningful friendships. And in a society where a person’s circle of friends and family could truly be the difference between life and death, this is truly a gift. 

Please be in prayer for farmers who have lost a vision for their land or have not found supportive community.