Our Programs
Food Security
Help families tackle hunger and find full life.
Hunger goes beyond the dinner table.
Hunger hurts, and is on the rise. Conflict, climate, and political instability have pushed the number of people suffering from chronic hunger to an all-time high. Today, approximately 783 million people are facing alarming levels of hunger.
When a person suffers from hunger, it affects every part of their life. It forces them to skip meals, taking a toll on their health and increasing their risk of disease. It drives them into unmanageable debt or risky activities to earn more income. In children, hunger stunts mental and physical growth, affecting entire generations of leaders and families.
But we believe our God is a God of abundance. Through farmer training, new innovations, and the local church, you can help families escape the scourge of hunger and find a full life.
We provide simple, low-cost solutions to end hunger.
Tearfund trains farmers in simple, cost-effective, and resilient farming practices. This training helps families grow more, save more, and achieve food security.
Agricultural Training
Farmers are trained through farmer field schools, where trainers are trained in Conservation Agriculture practices, and through churches, where model plots demonstrate Conservation Agriculture’s success.
Using simple, low cost methods, we help farmers increase their yields by 2-3x without harming the environment. This means that more diverse food is produced while ensuring ensuring the sustainability of the land for future generations.
Storage Solutions
Storage solutions are key for fighting hunger and transforming lives. In low-income countries, up to 30% of crop yield can go to waste due to mould, mice, and weevils. Tearfund helps farmers implement low-cost, innovative solutions, such as PICS bags, to preserve crops, reduce spoilage, and maximize profit at peak times.
Market Linkages
When the crop yield is great, the potential for families to thrive is even greater. Surplus crops can be transformed into a source of income when they’re sold at market, especially in off-seasons where crops don’t traditionally grow.
Farmer co-ops are another way that farmers join together to reap the benefits of the markets. Though co-ops, rural farmers have connections to bigger markets, expanding their potential for income and increasing demand for their crops.
How does Conservation Agriculture work?
Conservation Agriculture creates food sources that are more reliable and produce more. This is achieved through:
- Minimal tilling to retain water, decrease erosion, and reduce labour.
- Mulching keeps soil fertile and moist while suppressing weeds.
- Intercropping creates nutrient-rich soil and protects against spoil.
When resources are maximized, so is the potential for transformation.
When communities use what they have in different ways, they make the most out of their resources at hand. This maximizes the potential impact and helps lift whole communities out of poverty and into food security.
- Kitchen gardens, or gardens designed to produce food that use kitchen wastewater, are a sustainable and efficient way to increase a family’s food supply.
- Indigenous seed types that are better adapted to current conditions are also introduced, making planted crops more resilient. Many communities even use each other as resources.
- Through copycat farming, neighbors teach neighbors the basics of conservation agriculture, and more crops flourish.
Working with the local church.
With training provided through local churches, farmers are able to grow more crops, alleviate hunger, increase their incomes, and escape poverty for good.
- Local churches set up model plots to practically demonstrate the power of conservation agriculture to the community.
- They are also hosts of farmer field schools, where conservation agriculture is taught and transformation takes hold.
- Churches are advocates for change in the community, creating a culture where crops thrive and food security increases.
Unleashed Impact
When churches are unleashed, there’s no limit to what they can do.
A Desperate Prayer Answered
As a single mother of four, Nigist struggled to provide for her family. Droughts devastated her crops, and government assistance wasn’t enough. One night, in desperation, she prayed for help.
Her answer came through a farming course at her local church. Tearfund’s partner, Terepeza Development Association, taught her conservation agriculture techniques that transformed her tiny plot of land. Nigist’s harvests doubled, giving her more food than she had ever seen.
She lost everything
Franscisca lost her husband, home, and livelihood within two months. Desperate to provide for her five children, she learned conservation agriculture through Tearfund’s partner, Fadhili Trust. This training transformed her harvests, allowing her to feed her family and send her children to school.
Franscisca expresses her gratitude, saying “It is not by my strength or might, it is by the grace of God.”
Her farm was transformed
Here’s what’s happened this year.
individuals became more food secure
0
farmers trained in conservation agriculture
0
farmer field schools were formed
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What we really like about Tearfund's model is how they work with the local church. How in every context they try to make the local church the thing that empowers the people around them and meets their physical needs as well as their spiritual needs.
Donate Today
Help local churches reach beyond their walls and lift families out of physical and spiritual poverty.
Through Tearfund, your gift will equip local churches, and empower individuals, so that families can finally break the cycle of physical and spiritual poverty and see a future of opportunity and lasting hope.
