World Renew staff caught up with Michael in December 2015 to hear his story about the recent agricultural season.

Michael joined the farmer field school in March 2015. He was selected because he and his family were living in poverty. Michael is also especially vulnerable because he lost one of his legs after stepping on a land mine during the recent civil war.

Despite his disability and war-related trauma, Michael is a diligent farmer and a popular figure in his community. He does not consider himself to be disabled. Instead, he rejoices in what he has and works hard to bring improvements. He is a man who loves to overcome difficulties.

In March 2015, Michael received seeds, a hoe, a machete, and planting string from World Renew. The most important contribution World Renew is making to Michael’s life, however, is training. Michael is part of a farmer field school – a group of 25 farmers who are brought together to learn from agriculture staff and each other. The training is enabling Michael and the other members of the farmer field school to break out of the cycle of poverty that has caused many years of very low crop production.

Michael says he no longer considers himself to be disabled, and that World Renew is enabling him to rise up from poverty and disability to become a leading farmer in his community.

Emmanuel Christopher is the World Renew agriculture staff working with Michael’s group. He instructed the farmers on topics such as:

  • Planting crops with the right spaces between each plant for better access to sunlight and soil.

  • Preparing the land properly and planting early to make sure the crop grows within the seasonal cycle.

  • Crop management such as frequent weeding and adding earth around the young crops to ensure better roots.

When asked what difference this has made, Michael said that “planting crops in straight rows has made a big difference; my crops are healthier and they grow much stronger. My farm also looks very nice and people admire my fields. Weeding and management is much easier; I can do all the work in an organized way and when my children help with the weeding they do not damage the crop so much because weeding rows is much easier.”

Michael has recently been sharing his learning with others and telling his neighbours about his success.

In one season in 2015, on a very small plot of land he grew over one and a half tons (1.5 tons) of corn for his family. He says he no longer considers himself to be disabled, and that World Renew is enabling him to rise up from poverty and disability to become a leading farmer in his community.

Emmanuel has committed to working with these farmers for three years, so these changes Michael has seen in 2015 are just the beginning.