Which comes first markets or produce? pt 2

1 Corinthians 3:11 "For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ."

The argument encountered is that if the people produce more and they cannot market the surplus, it goes to waste and the farmers lose their incentive, and the programme collapses. There is logic to this argument, but we do have a ‘catch 22’ situation, so where do we start? If there is no reliability of supply, no entrepreneur will want to invest. If aid agencies come in and subsidise the cost of transport and marketing, the dependency syndrome is exacerbated.

However this process of production and marketing development can be almost concurrent, but vigorously inspired training in production should come first.In the end it is a matter of faith, obedience andwisdom. Faith and obedience, because God’s ways are different and higher than ours, and then we also need the wisdom to start with a little, done at a very high standard, which would not cause an unmanageable surplus in the early stages. Then God will provide the increase of both profitable production and marketing that will grow in sync together.

Sadly this line of reasoning can be distinctly unacceptable to many secular relief and development agents. This highlights the urgency for Christian Farmers and the Church in general to take the lead and create the models, which will eventually convince and unite everybody tobring aboutthe necessary change in the way we steward our land!

These are a few examples of what we hope will become a longer list of Foundational Farming Practices. We have tried to demonstrate how important it is for us to go to the Lord in prayer and scripture for help and guidance,and that in the end, this will show everyone that His ways are always best.

Update on Family Champions

Nicholas and Nosimilo Ncube are our Family Champions at Crossroads Community church in Kezi. They helped us by doing a pilot project to test material we are producing to adapt the Alpha Marriage Course for Africa. We and they learnt a lot of lessons and one result of the pilot project was a lovely church wedding at Crossroads.



In May, we also held 3 Saturday training days to introduce Foundations for Family to other churches in the Bulawayo area. The training sessions were well received and 3 church groups are now considering how to carry forward the vision of Foundations for Family to their congregations.

"Which comes first, markets or produce?" pt 1

1 Corinthians 3:11 "For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ."

All the secular analysts and aid workers, insist that when they try and help a community to produce more commodity, they must first develop a market and set up the appropriate infrastructure i.e.willing buyers, packaging and transport to market.

This actually hasn’t happened unless an entrepreneurial businessman or commodity broker sets up a commercial ‘Outgrower’ Scheme. These enterprising investors only come in if they have assessed the feasibility of the scheme, which would include their own market research.

However, because staple foodstuffs have a low value to weight ratio, these investors normally neglect the more distant and isolated communities, because the cost of investment and transport would be much greater.Also an investor would not consider coming into any area to set up business unless he could be assured of a reasonably consistent volume of supply of that commodity each year.

Africa’s average yield for maize has been around the one-tonne per hectare therefore mark for the last fifty years, with wide vacillations in annual yield. This means that the bottom half of producers have a much lower and more unreliable performance level, and therefore a much higher risk and much less feasibility for investment.

It is God’s way that we first begin by increasing yields, on a much more consistent basis, at the most efficient cost of production, which is what Foundations for Farming has been shown to achieve. This means that we are being faithful with the first things that God has given us, and then He adds to us. Investing in marketing infrastructure before this foundational faithfulness is like trying to build on air from the windowsills.