The Foundations for Farming principles can be applied in the smallest back yard garden to the largest commercial farm. On a small scale all work is manual and requires nothing more technical than a hoe.
As your knowledge and faithfulness increases, you’ll be able to grow sufficient food to:
Feed your family
Sell surplus to help buy next year’s inputs
Sell and make a profit and pay for other living expenses
Give to others
We have testimonies of farmers who, by adopting Foundations for Farming methods, have increased their yield over tenfold.
Foundations for Profitability
Profitability is essential for sustained production and development. The only alternative to profitability for survival in the short term is begging or theft, both of which cause poverty in the long term.
Profitability is possible if you faithfully apply these management principles of doing everything:
On Time. Plan ahead. Prepare well. Start early. Never be late!
At a High Standard. Do every operation and detail as well as you can with no shortcuts. Be honest and honorable in all you do.
Without Wasting. Don’t waste time, soil, water, sunlight, seed, nutrients, labour, energy, opportunity etc.
With Joy. If you do these first three things faithfully without self pity, complaining, blaming others, making excuses, but with thankfulness, there will be no need for fear and hopelessness and you will have hope and joy which gives you strength.
Foundations for a Successful Crop
In order to produce a good crop these principles should be applied:
-Maintain a mulch cover. Don’t burn!
-Maintain the soil structure & preserve the natural fauna. Don’t plough!
-Plant according to precise spacings and specifications in order to achieve optimal plant populations that give your plants the best chance to thrive.
-Give nutrition to your plants in whichever form you are able i.e. manure, compost, etc.
-Weed regularly and thoroughly, catching the weeds while they are small in order to save time and energy and cause the whole system to become far more manageable.
Foundations for a Successful Enterprise
Faithfulness with little (Stewardship)
The bible tells a story of a master who entrusted some money to his servants while he went away on a journey. Some of his servants invested the money to earn a profit, while one servant buried the money in the ground and it did not earn a profit. When the master returned, he was very pleased with the servants who had earned him a profit and put them in charge of many things. However, he was very angy at the servant who did not use the money to earn a profit, and he took away even the little he had, to give to the other servants.This story illustrates that when we are faithful with even the little we have we gain more. If we are not faithful we experience loss. If you are faithful with the land you have, even a small piece, and steward it well, you will reap a good reward.
Giving unselfishly
It is a universal law that the more you give into something, the more you will receive. We cannot expect the land to give us a harvest if we have not given to it with some sort of fertilization. Our farming enterprise will become more profitable the more we give of our time, energy & extra effort.
If you are willing to be a good steward, giving of all the resources you have available to you into your farming enterprise, you can become one of the best farmers in the world!
This is s brilliant model that I truly believe it can be replicated into Sierra Leone. It can work in Sierra Leone, I am requesting for training and to start a Foundations for Farming Sierra Leone. Please assist me with your advice about how and where to start.
That would be wonderful! In order to do that you would need to go to a training in Zimbabwe. They have one coming up in March I believe. Go to http://www.foundationsforfarming.org
The cost for flight to Zimbabwe is too expensive at this time from Sierra Leone. I can pay for the training but not the flight.