CONNECTED CHURCH Kigezi Diocese

FARMING GOD’S WAY Spring 2017

How much food do you grow in your garden? Notes to leader: Use this question as a way to get people engaged in the update. Ask people to talk to the person next to them, and then feedback to you.

In Kigezi, most people grow a lot of food in their gardens. Kigezi Diocese wanted to help these people grow more food using a method called Farming God’s Way. Farming God’s Way helps farmers to improve the quantity and quality of their crops whilst making the most of the water they have, without damaging the environment.

She used her own garden to demonstrate how it works. Ruth Ndyamuhaki was trained to demonstrate Farming God’s Way to her community in Kigata. She used her own garden to demonstrate how it works. In each community, they train a demonstrator, who plants a demonstration garden to show their neighbours what the method can do, then helps others start using the method themselves. One such demonstrator is Ruth Ndyamuhaki (50), she is married to Rev. Gad Ndyomugyenyi, the Church of Uganda parish priest in Kigata. They have spent many years spreading the Gospel to bring spiritual nourishment. Today, they are spreading Farming God’s Way practices to help bring physical nourishment as well.

So she dug terraces to preserve rainwater. Then she added a Mulch to the soil Finally she planted her main crop, Maize, together with an alternate crop of Soya Beans Locals call the terraces Fanya Chini, they help stop rainwater running off down hill. The Mulch is a layer of compost or vegetation (in Ruth’s case grass) that keep moisture in the soil and help improve its quality. The Soya Beans are planted around the Maize to complement it. Ruth also planted a garden using the conventional method farmers usually use. This was to show how difference between the two methods.

The results were incredible! Ruth’s garden produced so much more food than it had before. The plants looked much healthier too There were other benefits too. Thanks to Farming God’s Way, Ruth now uses fewer seeds and gets bigger crops. She doesn’t need to plough which means less work too. What’s more, the quality of the soil in her garden has improved dramatically too. Ruth has continued to improve her garden, adding more of the family’s land to it and rotating a variety of crops in the different beds.

Ruth does still face challenges, her crops are still vulnerable to pests and disease. She struggles to find enough grass for her mulch and her flourishing gardens are targeted by thieves.

‘I thank God for this has helped me to improve both quantity and quality of the crops I produce. In a small garden I am able to harvest quadruple of what I used to harvest using conventional means.’ Ruth Ndyamuhaki

PRAYER Thank God for the success Ruth has had in her own garden and that she has seen helping others.

PRAYER Pray that all using these methods will continue to overcome the challenges which they face Pray that Ruth will be able to help more people farm God’s way

PRAYER Pray for the other demonstrators like her across the Diocese of Kigezi