Foundations for Farming Lesotho makes the press!

Pete West was born in Zimbabwe, and for a year and a half from 2001, lived with Brian and Cath Oldreive (founders of Foundations for Farming) on their commercial farm. While he was there he helped on the farm, and also worked with Kingsway Community Church in Bindura, Zimbabwe. It was while he was living with Brian and Cath that he learnt the principles and techniques of Foundations for Farming (or Farming God’s Way as it was then).

Pete recalls, “Through spending time with Brian and Cath I caught a measure of the heart that God has for the poor. With that burden, I was released by Brian to serve a friend of his in Clarens in the Freestate and so I moved to South Africa in 2003.”

In 2003 Pete started to serve a local church in the North of Lesotho, called Rehobothe Church, from the base church in Clarens. He was involved in leadership in the church and also with training their members and the rest of the community in Foundations for Farming.

In 2004 the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN approached Pete and his wife to see if they could help spread Foundations for Farming into Lesotho. They have now been working with them for six years and have seen hundreds if not thousands of people trained.

Though they have seen so many people trained, Pete shared that it has been a real struggle to get all the farmers who have been trained to be faithful with all the principles. “We believe the most effective way to see widespread transformation is for the gospel to go out as we teach people to honour God and farm His way. Our nations need churches that can be centres of excellence where the glory of God can be displayed even in our crops. We believe that walking with people, in accountable relationships, is going to be how we ensure the transformation of our rural areas. Often we have found that once the transforming work of the Holy Spirit has changed a person’s heart, they are in a place where they can receive the full benefits of Foundations for Farming.”

For one person in particular, hope was enough to bring change, though Pete is still trusting in God for their salvation, the transformation in the life of Mr Thabang Mokone and his family has been dramatic.

Thabang uses his property around his house to grow maize for his family. It is roughly one fifth of a hectare. Before using the principles and techniques of Foundations for Farming he was yielding 60kg of maize off the plot.

In 2005 Lesotho experienced a terrible drought and the only people to get a crop that year were six farmers from a village called Mokotjela who Pete had trained in Foundations for Farming. They had faithfully gone up into the mountains to cut thatching grass to make sure that they had enough mulch for their fields. That year the six farmers averaged 1.2 tonnes per hectare each, when the majority in the country got nothing. The average yield per hectare in Lesotho on a good year is 300kg. It was during this season that Thabang saw what was happening in Mokotjela and decided he could do the same, if not better.

Pete West has been so encouraged by Mr Thabang Makone’s progress with Foundations for Farming, “I visited him and his family recently and his favourite catch phrase for the afternoon was ‘God’s way of farming has made the difference’ – This was said a number of times throughout the afternoon, my favourite was when his wife brought out the meal and I noticed we had chicken to eat (chicken is normally served about twice a year in Lesotho) ‘God’s way of farming has made the difference!’ – Amen to that.”

Thabang’s yield grew from 60kg to 340kg in his first year and he is now reaping over 1 tonne of maize from his little garden. So his average yeild is the equivalent to 5 tonnes per hectare compared to the national average of 300kg per hectare! Thabang’s performance attracted the attention of the Public Eye Newspaper (to read the article click here). He now spends his time in his garden, with his family and with his community teaching them to enjoy ‘God’s way of farming making the difference’.

Pete West says, “Our vision for Lesotho is to see the Kingdom of God come to Lesotho and to raise up leaders that will bring transformation to their communities and to the nation. Foundations for Farming is a key that will unlock the Gospel to this nation.”