Diaries of a global farmer

I tell Loveness the story of how a Zimbabwean family was chased from their farm by Mugabe’s followers and she is intrigued. “That’s a very interesting story,” she comments.

What makes it interesting to her? The part about the witchdoctor? The fact that whites are chased from a farm by blacks? Or just the story itself? How will I ever know?

The barriers of communication are brought home to me again. How often, in these past three months, have we overestimated the extent to which the Africans have truly understood what we were saying. The words, yes, most likely they heard those. But the content? They would say they understood, but did they understand what we were trying to convey, or something else? Did we understand what they were really saying?

Read Also

Worrisome drop in grain prices

Prices had been softening for most of the previous month, but heading into the Labour Day long weekend, the price drops were startling.

When the communicators have grown up in worlds that are so different in outlook, in world views, in concepts of time, money, work, priorities, family responsibilities; it is easy to misunderstand one another.

These are some of the thoughts I ponder as I pack our suitcases to leave Zambia. Then I ask myself, “What have we achieved in our time here?” That is a Mzungu (white) question too – this need to feel we have accomplished something, that our time ‘was not wasted’. What constitutes wasted time? If we have built relationships, been together, how could the time be wasted?

But still, what difference have we made? Pastor Jessy, chairman of the Mpongwe cooperative, is emphatic. “Our people have changed because of you.” At the top of his list is the interaction of the group as they toured each other’s fields and talked about different ways of doing things; the process of working through the project; making decisions together; opening a bank account for the first time.

As I listen to him tell of how they are planning already for the next season, excited of the changes they will make to produce a better crop, I think that we have done well for three months time and $5000 investment. Economically this year’s plots will not make a big difference to those taking part. But the change in their thinking, as they let go of long ingrained traditions and embrace new ideas is going to have a long term impact that will be more than economic.

We are disappointed in the outcome of the Bukuumo Cooperative project. We had hoped that by the time we leave the chicken layer barn would be at least started, if not finished. Instead, the whole project has been put on hold.

The numbers just don’t work out. Feed prices have risen so much in the last months (as everywhere in the world) that we would be running a negative margin. Everyone agreed that we can’t begin like that – we would soon be finished! So the group is looking at alternative projects – putting the trucks to work, planting a market garden on the farm, etc. We don’t leave them with nothing – they now own land in a prime location. Hopefully the business sense we have shared with them will help them in the future.

There is a real sense of excitement in the agricultural sector of Zambia. The large commercial farmers are all expanding. Through the cooperative movement and community leaders like Pastor Jessy some of this will spill over to the small scale farmer too. The government is working hard to promote agriculture, implementing policies and providing grants to help small scale and large farmers.

The last morning I go to chapel. The strong, harmonious voices lift in song, filling the stone hall – and my heart. There is so much potential – joy, strength, hope. What a privilege it was to be here! Tomorrow we leave for Kenya – a country recovering from post election violence. More next week!