Agriculture

Student Training.

Daybreak Bible College (DBC) provides agriculture training to all of our students in efforts to equip them for sustainable, affordable agriculture (food security).  This training teaches them how to utilize composting, crop rotation, raised beds, and drip-irrigation (which is the most efficient use of limited supplies of water).  At one time our ministry tried to provide this agriculture training to non-students through one-week workshops and demonstration farms; but, unfortunatley, our efforts failed to produce any lasting results.  From this experience we learned that there is substantial resistance to change (especially when taught by foreign organizations and ex-patriots). 

We also were quite surprised by how difficult it was to teach our own students even after completing our two-year training program.  Only a few students implemented the things they had learned upon their return home.  It was concluded that this training was seriously undermined by the fact that we were feeding the students while attempting to train them in self-sustainable agriculture.  Obviously, feeding students undermines the whole notion of self-sustainability. 

Subsequently, we determined that the only way for students to learn self-sutaining agriculture was for the students to actually be self-sustaining while attending DBC.  Only then will students achieve ownership and confidence in the agricultural skills that we are teaching them.  Thus, DBC no longer provides meals (stipend) for the students after the first three months.  Students are provided a stipend only for the first three months while they are being taught and getting their gardens and chicken operations up and running.

For further information on the agricultural training program (drip-irrigation technology), click here.

If you would like to contribute to this agricultural training, then select the agricultural options on the donation form below. 

Food Preservation.

Since very few Zambians can afford a refrigerator (or have electricity), food preservation is a major challenge. This project is designed to educate Zambians in various methods of food preservation (e.g. canning, drying, etc). The goal in this effort is to provide techniques that are affordable, sustainable, and which use resources and technologies that are available to the people of Zambia.

Nutritional Training.

One of the reasons why Zambians die so easily or quickly from disease or infections is due in part to the fact that the population is often severely malnourished. It is also a reason why people with HIV-AIDS die so quickly from the virus. They are malnourished and their immune systems are so weakened that death occurs far more readily when people become sick. And, the primary reason for their malnourished condition is due to their diet which is heavy in starchy foods. Nshima is the primary stable food of Zambia. It is made from maize (field corn) that is ground up and cooked in water. The finished product looks somewhat like "Turkey dressing" (American food) except it lacks any spices. Zambians take a wad of nshima in their hand and dip it into a vegetable soup (mostly water with mustard greens and onions). Most Zambians eat this at every meal that they eat which means that 80% of it is nshima. This is not a sufficient diet and lacks many vitamins and nutrients. This ministry is designed, therefore, to teach Zambians how to grow certain other vegetables and food items that can increase their intake of necessary vitamins and nutrients.

Agriculture Marketing.

Once farmers begin to grow crops year-round, they typically are able to increase their production capabilities beyond their own needs and, thus, end up producing a surplus which they can sell at the market. The problem farmers then face is the challenge of transportation. Zambian roads either do not exist or are too difficult to transport produce during certain times of the year (rainy season). And, if it the roads are a problem, then the availability and/or cost of transport is prohibitive. And, if these challenges were enough, there is also the lack of any market options for farmers (i.e., no one to buy their crops). This project is designed to try and solve these problems. One solution to this problem is the "bush transport" which is a three-wheeled motorcycle fitted with large tires and a cargo bed on the back. This is a low-cost solution as a motorcycle is much cheaper to operate than a truck. Another solution to this problem is to locate and/or develop markets to which farmers can sell their crops.