One banana farm brings exponential hope in the DRC
A single lesson in conservation agriculture transformed Kwabo’s harvest and his village’s future
When everything you’ve tried fails, where do you turn? When your hard work yields little, and your family is still hungry, what more can you do?
Desperation gripped Kwabo Marungu. After spending all of his energy on labouring his farm, his six young children still did not have enough to eat. Everything he tried came up with nothing.
Due to the climate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the fertility of the soil has been steadily decreasing. Year after year, there has been less and less harvest, and hungrier and hungrier children to feed. Kwabo did everything he knew how: “I tried growing potatoes, but it failed in spite of using animal manure.” There seemed to be no way out. His continuous unyielding efforts were exhausting, but still he did not give up.
When the local church in Kimbulu offered training in a farming technique called conservation agriculture, Kwabo jumped at the chance to learn new agriculture strategies. He held on to every word that the training facilitators spoke, dutifully following every instruction, and this training changed his life. These new farming techniques resulted in enough crops to sell for Kwabo’s family to build shelters for their rabbits and buy two goats!
“There is no lean month in my household,” Kwabo says with a smile. But this is not the whole story—the best is yet to come!
On the edge of Kwabo’s fruitful field stands a tall, thriving banana plantation that lines the main path into the village. As other villagers walk by and see his prosperous farm, wondering how he managed to grow such beautiful and luscious fruit, Kwabo is able to tell them about the training he received at the local church.
Kwabo now leads a group of people from his village, training others in conservation agriculture techniques! “The first adopters [of these techniques] testify to change in their field and in their family,” Kwabo shares happily.
Through one man’s thriving plantation, he is able to tell others about conservation agriculture. As people learn about conservation agriculture, they come to the local church to learn more. Suddenly, more people are involved with the church, they’re equipped to lift themselves out of poverty, and their lives are being transformed, physically and relationally. Conservation agriculture training has a beautiful ripple effect, transforming entire communities through the love of Christ!
God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. Your donations are helping to transform communities like Kwabo’s!