Moving and starting to farm
At the closing of last year, Mobali moved to the newly bought land of CSI DRC, in the province of Tanganyika in the town of Kalemie. Since he moved there, he has been working relentlessly on the fields and started to prepare them for their first season and yield of crops.
As he is working with the farming methods of Foundations for Farming (FfF), he has been setting up different Pfumvudza plantages for the various types of crops that he is harvesting.
A brief introduction to what a Pfumvudza is, and the need for it
So, what is a Pfumvudza plantage and what are the benefits of it? Glad you asked. Pfumdvuza is one of the farming methods of FfF; a way of arranging the fields so they can yield more crops, making farming more efficient, sustainable for the long run and, therefore a more sustainable way for the soil, as this method helps the soil to regenerate itself.
Why is there a need for Pfumvudza?
Small-scale farmers (1-2 Ha) often struggle to sustain themselves. Expanding land or mechanization isn't effective enough; larger plots mean poorer standards, often no increase in production, and mechanization is costly with hidden expenses.
The idea and concept behind Pfumvudza
Pfumvudza was created to address the question of how much land is needed to feed a family. Using Foundations for Farming principles, the model assumes a weekly maize bucket for a staple diet. To fill a bucket, 56 maize plants with 300g cobs each are needed. With FfF spacing (60cm) and 2 plants per station, a 16m row produces a weekly bucket. For a year, 52 buckets, hence, 52 rows are required, resulting in a 39m block at 75cm spacing, totaling ¹⁄₁₆ of a hectare (16m by 39m).
Current situation on the fields
Mobali with some help of friends, set up three Pfumvudza plots on the 50 by 50 meters field in Kalemie. They are divided in two plots of maize and one plot of soy beans. Each section (either maize or soy) ranges 25 m X 50 m. Additionally to this, they set up a peanut plot on a 10m X 50m strip.
At the moment he and his friends are ploughing and preparing another 50m X 50m, which then again, will be halfed into maize and soy (25m X 50m maize, 25m X 50m soy).
The Pfumvudza plantage is done with much care and in a high quality, as it will be used for demonstrations later. A standard for quality, one, to which the people of the surroundings villages and the refugee camp can look to. So they can see the method properly done, its great usefullness, thereby be inspired and persuaded to join a training done by Mobali and learn the methods of farming and financial stewardship for themselves.
The journey on the fields so far:
How it started:
Where we are now:
If you would like to join us in our search to equip families and communities with farming methods, financial stewardship principles and the spread of the good news of the Gospel, we would be very grateful. As said before, if you would like to support us in prayers or financially, we'd be very happy and thankful, as CSI DRC is still depending on donations.
To support us you can visit our Support Page.
We want to give thanks for all kind of support, which we have received up to this time, be it in prayer or through financial support. Thank you!
For further informations do not hestitate to contact us: info.csi.drc@gmail.com
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