Humble Farmer teaches amateurs to do wonders
http://www.zimeye.org/?p=22349
By Na Ncube
Published: September 20, 2010
Harare – A humble Christian farmer who lost his own farm is now selflessly
transferring his expertise to thousands of aspiring farmers, teaching them a
revolutionary method of using the land to manifest wonders hailed as the
best farming technique in Africa to date.
Brian Oldrieve has a revolutionary way of farming which does not require
much artificial chemical implements such as fertilisers but yet yields of up
to 16 tonnes per hectare when the average subsistence farmer receives less
than 1 tonne per hectare. The average commercial farmer receives an average
4 tonnes per hectare.
Previously dubbed ‘Farming God’s Way’, Oldrieve’s method was recently
re-named ‘Foundations For Farming’. Free courses are now being conducted
across the country in which many are being taught to farm in this way
enabling the most ordinary uneducated farmer to obtain a potential turnover
of at least 11000 dollars per season even with the smallest piece of land.
In a video interview, Oldrive says these ideas started coming to him after
he quit a lucrative tobacco farm in fear that he was producing a product
which damages other people’s health, and then started to major in growing
foods such as maize so to feed others.
Case study – VILLAGE TRANSFORMATION
Like any of the 300,000 young people leaving school each year in rural
Zimbabwe, Themba had very few prospects. He heard about Ebenezer College in
Kezi where young people like him learn conservation farming principles from
a friend. He applied, and was happy to be part of the very first intake
with other young people from nearby villages.
Interviewing Themba at the beginning of his training, his tutor wrote that
Themba’s main ambition was to be able to help his father to feed the family,
and maybe one day a family of his own. Over the next two years at the
college Themba’s time was split between conservation farming training, bible
classes and work on his own 30X100m plot of land where he produced cabbages,
tomatoes and maize. The college assisted him to transport his produce to the
market, and from his earnings he paid a 20% admin fee to the college.
In addition to the training, as required Themba did 6hrs of voluntary
community service in his village each week. For probably the first time he
started to see other people’s needs, and with his 6 friends at Ebenezer they
started to discuss what they can do. One of the guys paid fees for local
aids orphans – at US1 each, this was not a lot. Someone else wanted to help
former classmates who now spent their time drinking local beer and hanging
about. Themba felt he needed to assist in the local church and he approached
the pastor who was very happy to receive help. Soon he had extra
responsibility at church and his mentor noted quietly that Themba had
lengthened his working day to enable him to earn more and serve the
community better. He duly agreed to extend Themba’s plot to allow him to
increase production.
At Themba’s exit interview from Ebenezer his tutor wrote of the huge vision
of the young man who now wanted a whole lot more than just to assist his
father to feed the family. Not long after Themba went back home, the local
chief approached Ebenezer College and asked if he could bring all the local
young men in his ward to Ebenezer. His words were particularly encouraging,
he said ‘for many years I have been approached by outsiders wanting to
implement one project or another. Our people have become used to this, and
some have even come to expect such assistance. But when our own children
start to look after aids orphans and give freely to the widows, then the
village takes note. Even those who are used to asking for help are
challenged and start to do some work for themselves’
What has been achieved using conservation farming?
First time farmers have achieved yields of 3tonnes per ha – a tenfold
increase on our present production of less than 0.3t/ha. Experienced farmers
have achieved anything up to 9t/ha. The research centre at Westgate has
reached 16t/ha.
Consider that what the word calls a green revolution is an achievement of
3t/ha, consider that Zimbabwe’s annual grain yields are 2million t/ha – all
it would take for the nation to feed itself is less than a million rural
farmers adopting conservation farming. Consider that Zimbabwe is a Christian
nation, and if on the 26th of September a million Christians buy in to this
method of farming, our future looks bright. (ZimEye, Zimbabwe)
Na Ncube is the Director of The Global Native, a charity that works with
Foundation For Farming. She can be reached at
[email protected] She is also part of a coalition of
Zimbabweans who are coordinating Love-Zim-Prayer Day, a 26th October program
that advocates the economic emancipation of Zimbabwe’s poor masses through
every possible means]
Foundation For Farming’s new website is www.foundationsforfarming.org