The Christian Reformed World Relief Committee’s (CRWRC) legacy of life-changing agricultural programs began with milk and a board member. In 1965, at an annual CRWRC board meeting, Peter Feddema learned about a great shortage of milk in South Korea. As Feddema listened to Dr. Peter Boeloens (of Christian Reformed World Missions) describe the need to set up dairy farms and agricultural programs in the country, he felt God speaking to him in a new way.
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The Christian Reformed World Relief Committee’s (CRWRC) legacy of life-changing agricultural programs began with milk and a board member.
In 1965, at an annual CRWRC board meeting, Peter Feddema learned about a great shortage of milk in South Korea. As Feddema listened to Dr. Peter Boeloens (of Christian Reformed World Missions) describe the need to set up dairy farms and agricultural programs in the country, he felt God speaking to him in a new way.
“It was as though the Lord put his hand on my shoulder and said ‘you’ve got to go!’” Feddema recalls.
And go he did. After a lot of prayer consideration and planning, he and his family set out for South Korea to help establish dairy farms and train farmers–the very first CRWRC agriculture initiative.
Together, Feddema and South Korean farmers transformed lives through training in animal care and improved agricultural techniques, as well as infrastructure projects such as irrigation systems. A system was also developed where farmers could receive interest free loans that they could use to purchase tools, supplies, and other inputs and then work to repay. The loan system worked very well, with farmers able to improve their farms, increase their incomes, and repay their loans at a 93% recovery rate!
Feddema’s work, however, was not without its challenges. Irrigation projects, for example, could cause conflict between neighbors when one area would benefit more than another depending on its proximity to a dyke or dam. Natural disasters such as floods and droughts also hindered progress by destroying the crops of farmers already deep in debt. Such setbacks were devastating for Feddema to witness, but he saw the Lord’s hand through it all and trusted Him to keep the work going forward.
By focusing on whole communities rather than individuals, CRWRC’s projects in South Korea promoted unity, sustainability, and cooperation. In one community, a group of teen-age orphan boys were the beneficiaries of training in the care of cattle, land terracing, planting, and crop rotation—giving them a better life than that of a beggar or vagrant.
“I loved working with my South Korean brothers and sisters,” says Feddema, looking back on his time as the first agriculturalist with CRWRC. “I was one with them. We made a good team. We started from nothing and it grew.”
While Feddema originally intended to serve with CRWRC in Korea for three months, he ended up staying for over three years of faithful service. In these years, Feddema saw remarkable growth—communities changed so drastically for the better in but a few years—so much so that “one could barely recognize them.” Families ate healthier, neighbors shared resources, and farmers were empowered to put skills and resources to fruitful use. The infant mortality rate also declined in various communities. People had been helped in a manner that enabled them to help themselves and continue their progress well into the future.
And this was just the beginning. Throughout the last five decades, CRWRC’s agricultural training and business development for farming communities would continue—and flourish.
“Over 80 percent of the poorest people in the world are farmers,” says Tom Post, CRWRC Team Leader in Asia, speaking to the ongoing importance of this agricultural focus.
Through training in sustainable agriculture, business development and livestock care, CRWRC has helped to improve thousands of farmers’ livelihoods in the past 50 years. There have been many successes to celebrate, despite increasing challenges like lack of water and infertile soil.
In the early 1970’s, for example, CRWRC was one of the first responders to the ravages of civil war in Bangladesh. Through the Mennonite Central Committee, CRWRC assisted with small scale agricultural research, promoting tube wells for irrigation. “We saw outstanding increases in harvests,” Post says.
Between 1969 and 1998, CRWRC also developed several agricultural projects in Mexico, including revolving loans that allowed communities to purchase irrigation pumps. In Southern Mexico, CRWRC staff saw great success after training farmers in Biblical creation care practices, along with the importance of letting fields fallow in a legume cover crop (letting a portion of land rest for a period of time) and the disadvantages of burning plots of land as a way to clear it for planting. Thousands of farmers adopted CRWRC’s recommended practices, and the region’s corn crop doubled, changing it from a corn importer to a corn exporter.
In the mid-1990’s, CRWRC staff in Cambodia learned about an innovative method for growing rice that was developed by Father Henri de Laulanie, a French Jesuit father who lived in Madagascar. The method was called “System of Rice Intensification”, or SRI, and was a planting technique that had proved to increase rice crops from two tons per hectare to eight tons per hectare. CRWRC staff in Cambodia learned the technique and shared their knowledge with local community leaders. It proved highly successful, and is now being shared by CRWRC in Bangladesh, India and Laos—helping increase harvests each year.
Throughout the past 50 years, CRWRC has proven to be a key leader in agricultural programming around the world. So much so, that Roland Bunch, director of Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods for World Neighbours, said in 2009, “I have worked with over 50 non government organizations (NGOs) around the world, and have visited 330 rural development programs around the world. I would definitely put CRWRC’s work in the top quartile of NGO agricultural work around the world,”
CRWRC continues to train farming communities in sustainable agriculture, business development and income generation. Its programming is diverse, according to the needs of each farming community. Some of CRWRC’s programs include training farmers in beekeeping, raising poultry and small livestock, encouraging communities to store excess crops in grain silos, and starting community savings and loans programs. Ultimately, CRWRC’s goal is to encourage communities to have full ownership of these projects, so that the farmers are the ones making the decisions and taking responsibility for the management and operation of the projects.
“These agriculture programs strengthen the local leadership, local organization, and local capacity to for farmers to grow food for themselves,” explains Feddema.
Nothing speaks more powerfully to CRWRC’s success in agricultural programming than the stories of the very individuals whose families have blessed by them.
“Life has changed since I began cultivating onions in my two acres of land,” said Musyoka Kimondiu, a beneficiary of one of CRWRC’s projects in Eastern Kenya.
Five years ago, Kimondiu worked every day on his farm, but his harvests were small. He joined a rural development project offered by one of CRWRC’s partners, attending workshops and visiting neighboring farmers to learn new planting techniques. With CRWRC’s help, he purchased a water pump and received seeds to further improve productivity.
“After several seasons I was able to earn a consistent and adequate income of 81,000 Kenya Shillings (about $1,000 USD) on average per season,” he said. With his increased income, he purchased a dairy cow, which supplied his family with milk and provided additional income. He then rented a market stall to sell his produce, and purchased two more acres of land. Now, Kimondiu is able to support his family well, and even pay for his two children to attend high school.
Kimondiu’s story of hope is one of many—and there are many more stories being lived out today.
Throughout CRWRC’s past, agricultural programs have been critical in the fight against global hunger. This work will carry on into the future, continuing CRWRC’s agricultural legacy of restoring the resources, improving the livelihoods, and filling the bellies of God’s children around the world.
~ by Adele Konyndyk, CRWRC Communications