The Christian Farmer’s Association (CFA) works through local churches in Zambia to provide agriculturally-based, economic-development programs, loans, and training to help subsistence farmers increase their incomes and grow their farming businesses. The CFA has been successful in transforming struggling farmers into thriving agriculture entrepreneurs.
George is a one CFA success story. Like all who participate in the Christian Farmer’s Association, he received in-depth training and agricultural loans to get his farming enterprise off to a good start.
George’s five goats needed a goat house. He cleverly constructed one using free materials, paying for nothing other than a handful of nails. He strategically built the goat house so that the urine and dung dropped by the goats falls into an area that is something like a composting Petri dish.
Several times each week, George collects organic materials and places them under the goat house. The organic material mixes with the goat droppings and creates an enriched compost pile. After a month, he removes the compost and manure pile from under the goat house and allows it to break down for two more weeks. Then, George adds this free, nutrient-rich compost to his vegetable fields. It takes some time and effort on George’s part, but his thriving vegetable farm is well worth it. George’s five goats have transformed his agricultural practice!
Because of his innovative planning, George has paid back four times the amount of his agriculture loan than any other community member. He’s been able to out-produce everyone else because he uses more goat manure and compost on his fields.
Thanks to the excellent training he received in the CFA and his own innovation, George is now one of Bright Hope’s top producing vegetable farmers in Zambia.
We thank God for His blessing on the CFA program and are hopeful that it will continue to help subsistence farms in Zambia increase their livelihoods!
