Home on the Range: Farming God's Way

Double Portion Farm outside of Kampala. Location of the Farming God's Way training.

A few weeks ago, me and Ronnie and two of our friends from church, Dan and Charles, attended a Farming God’s Way (FGW) training seminar in Kampala. I had read up on FGW, knew that zero-till/no-till agriculture was better for the land than the conventional farming methods being used(i.e. plowing, plowing and more plowing), and knew I was failing miserably at trying to farm in Uganda, but not until we were able to hear about FGW from the actual instructor and have him explain everything did it all make sense. I’m sold now! I now see the error of my ways and can clearly see why I am failing at this farming bit. I am thankful for my very limited farming experience here, I am also sad that I have not treated the land and the crops with care, but I’m thankful that I have seen the bad and can now appreciate how good it will be from this point forward. You may remember a blog a few weeks ago about how the garden was coming – not too good. Most of my problems were caused by my lack of knowledge, cutting corners, and laziness. I hope to change all that.

Josh giving a talk about FGW and the recent maize crop

Traditionally, in this part of Uganda, farmers wait for the first rain, or rains, to come before they get the oxen ready and plow their gardens (fields to most folks, but called gardens here). They wait until after the first rains because the ground gets so hardened and compact over the dry season that you need some rain just to be able to penetrate the hard pan. This is the norm. Doing everything this way wastes the first heavy rains because nothing is planted, nothing is even ready for planting, and the surface is so hard very little rain even penetrates, so most runs off and takes precious soil with it. This is the way everyone does it, and it’s the way they’ve done it for generations. But just because we’ve always done it this way, doesn’t make it right. It was through the FGW training that Dan and Charles’s eyes were opened and they have seen the error of their ways. They now see that the way they have been farming for generations is futile and cannot be sustained, much less be profitable. I was enlightened as well and now realize I have not done a good job of stewarding the land or farming in a way that is pleasing to God.

demonstration garden

So let me tell you some of what FGW is all about and why this method of farming makes so much sense. Farming God’s Way is not some magic farming method that makes a farmer rich. It’s not a special something that God has ordained as the only way. It is just farming based on Biblical principles and good land management practices. If you think about God being the inventor of farming and the original farmer (Garden of Eden) then it makes sense that He would have better insight into how to properly farm than man would. Also, God’s ways are not our ways, and time and time again we prove that our ways are not very good. Man continues to try things in his own knowledge and under his own power, and we fail or worse yet we succeed and become prideful because we did it on our own. But really we do nothing on our own and God is still the creator of all things and it is only through Him and because of Him that we can do anything at all. The Bible says in Hosea 4:6 “My people perish because of a lack of knowledge.” God did give us a guide for how we should do life. Most of what we need to know is in the Bible or can be seen visibly in nature. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Seems pretty simple and straight forward…

making compost

FGW was founded because all across Africa there is fertile land in abundance, yet Africa is still poor and crop/food production is low. Africans are struggling under a yoke of poverty, but that poverty is not just poverty of material possessions or capital. From the FGW website, “ we believe that Farming God's Way is part of God's solution for Africa, where it can be turned around from being the ‘begging bowl’ to the ‘breadbasket of the world’. Farming God's Way is simply a tool of equipping to empower the poor to help themselves. Farming God's Way was originated before man was on the face of the earth, when God first put His ways in place to govern His creation and their interrelations with one another. God is the master farmer who has been farming this way since the beginning and by simply following His Ways, amazing solutions to the food security and poverty crisis can be revealed.” FGW is a tool that can help to alleviate the spiritual and material poverty that is so common across Africa. FGW is comprised of 3 spheres – Biblical, Technology, and Management. Here the 3 spheres are explained in more detail.

Spiritual
God’s Word brings the revelation and enlightenment that the yoke is first and foremost a spiritual yoke. If we only deal with the technical and management keys we will not be able to deliver the poor. We teach six major biblical keys to unlocking the potential of the land and its people.
1) Acknowledge God and God alone (repent of our wickedness, quit looking to witchcraft or other stuff, and acknowledge God and Him alone as Creator and Lord)
2) Consider your ways (Haggai 1:2-11, why are we in the position we are in?)
3) Understanding God's all-sufficiency (don’t be dependent upon yourself or man, or governments or NGO’s ---- but only on God, He has given us everything we need to be successful and prosper in ag)
4) What you sow you will reap (we need to be working and not looking for handouts, and through wise giving we can go from Africa being the “begging bowl” to the “bread basket”)
5) Bring the tithes and offerings to God (God is the giver of all good things, and He blesses us to be a blessing to others, God is after our hearts and not our money, but we have to be willing to give up our grip on money and things and allow Him to have control - through this we will be blessed)
6) Stake your claim (pray over your land and claim what God has given you to be good)

Management We have to teach the poor to make a sustainable profit for them to come out of poverty.
The 3 management keys are:
1) do everything - On time
2) To high standards
3) and With minimal wastage

Technology
Technically, the laws that God has put in place in creation for the most productive ecosystems in the world include little or no soil disturbance, no destruction or incorporation of surface organic residues and a significant biodiversity of species. In keeping with this we model our agricultural practises on the above through:
1) No plowing
2) 100% mulch covers (which we refer to as God's Blanket)
3) Practice rotations I realized I have not been doing everything to a high standard.

Dan checking out the FGW gardens

I do not go about my normal day in such a way that my every action is an opportunity to glorify God. In fact, many times it is the exact opposite. My farming has not in any way been viewed by myself or others as a way to reflect God’s glory. My garden looks really poor and other than the weeds and termites, there isn’t much thriving. We plan to implement FGW omany of the gardens around the Obulle area. We feel through farming we can transform this small area of Uganda for Christ. If our farms are operated in such a way as would bring glory to God, then others will see it. These farming principles should carry over into all aspects of a person’s life and not only will we be farming God’s way, but now we’ll see men loving their wives God’s way, and raising their children God’s way, stewarding money and possessions God’s way, using their time in God’s way, leading their families and communities God’s way. Next time I blog about gardening in Uganda it will not be a blog about how everything has gone wrong. Instead, it is my hope that through farming we can change people’s hearts, worship God, profit, and alleviate spiritual and material poverty in this area.