The Agape Training Center and Farm - Agape Community Foundation for Development (ACFD) near Gulu, Uganda. Photos sent from Terrence Acaye, Director
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Farm Updates
Terence Acaye, Director of ACFD, has been sending regular reports on life in and around Gulu. He reports that the Agape Training Center and Farm has had a lot of work and challenges due to drought. For the second growing season of the year, maize, beans, potatoes, cassava, Sukuma-wiki and rice have been planted. For praise reports from the farm, they have planted using Farming God's Way methods. He reports that the second season maize has been doing very well. They have been blessed to be able to use the drip irrigation system during the drought. The goats, pigs, and fish are doing well. Some of the fish from the farm have been distributed to elderly and vulnerable persons for hunger relief regionally. In between Covid lockdowns, some community trainings were held about fish farming. We celebrate how they are showing resilience, progress and loving and serving their neighbors; progress despite the pandemic lockdowns and farming drought crisis and looming specter of hunger.
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Left: Community Group from Awere side by side, Odek Sub County learning about fish farming. ACFD will support them with tilapia fingerlings.
Right: Tilapia in one of the ponds on the farm, with weights of 500-600 grams.
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Unfortunately many first season crops all over Northern Uganda dried up due to "too much sunshine" - the drought. Not only the drought, but also Covid and the government mandated lockdown has had an impact on the Agape farm and partner villages. They have had difficulties paying workers and feeding the pigs and fish. Movement and markets are locked down. Terence did have to take risks moving about during lockdown to go into Gulu to buy feed and essentials for the farm. He did get arrested on one of these trips, but all is well in the end and the lockdowns have eased some.
Our partner villages have been impacted by the drought as well. Kampala village has nothing in the garden. In Kweyo Village, they formed their community unity group and named it Worober ("respect is important"); they planted simsim but it was destroyed. Awere side by side planted groundnut but it was destroyed. In Awal they have planted sunflower but not yet harvested it. The Palabek group planted beans and soya beans and have developed a savings plan. (All of the village farmers have been trained in farming God’s way and effective farming business practices previously and are doing their best to utilize what they have been trained to rise up despite the obstacles and benefit themselves and their communities - hallelujah!).
Terence reports that "everybody in northern Uganda is suffering and it is difficult to help unless the rain is stable for the second season." The people are spending time in prayer asking for ongoing rain! The dry season usually begins in December. They are providing H20 ideas on how to give a hand up and implement a maize business strategy to carry them through the dry season and next growing season in 2022. This is an excellent opportunity to partner with us and support the emergency relief initiative that will make a huge recovery impact in the lives of so many.
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Prayer Request
Our friends in northern Uganda are beginning to experience food insecurity. With the drought and second covid lockdown, harvests and food stores, businesses and trainings have been negatively impacted. We give praise for the provision during the first covid lockdown for which the trainings and business models sustained them and they even made progress despite the pandemic - proving incredible resilience. This second lockdown is a different outcome and we ask for ongoing provision that is sufficient during this coming dry season.
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