World Renew’s staff are always learning about new ways to use the huge diversity of assets the Lord put into his creation all around the world so that people experience the abundant life He intended for his people. Here are a couple of updates and some pictures of my latest learnings.
Evergreen Agriculture (Fertilizer Trees)
First, if we could add fertilizing trees to the good work already started in conservation agriculture, we might be able to further enrich the worn-out soils, produce more firewood for cooking, and reduce the heavy labor needed for making compost. It turns out that the International Center for Agro-forestry in Kenya is willing to collaborate with World Renew as we set up farmer exchange learning visits. The partnership would help us get fertilizing tree seeds for various environments and help us train our staff and farmer teachers. What a great blessing this could become!
Amaranth
Another recent learning journey has been with the amazing plant species called amaranth. Last week I was privileged to participate in the Amaranth Institute in Chicago. A lady we met recently had just completed her Ph.D. and started her own company. One of her goals is to make the wonderful nutritional benefits of amaranth leaves more available to the human body and less bitter to the taste. She is starting production facility in Rwanda with the support of the government there. The lady behind the table is from Kenya, and she showed all of us — including people from Russia who want to start a new amaranth products company—how to prepare amaranth leaves in a tasty way by lightly frying them in olive oil, and then adding onions, peppers, and tomatoes. The leaves tasted very good! And they are also high in calcium, iron, and vitamins.
When our demonstration chef quietly mentioned that for many Africans, a bitter tasting leaf means that it is good for you. We laughed that Americans tend to think that the best foods engagetaste, texture, and sweetness to make us happy—like ketchup!
In a more serious example of the use of amaranth, a woman in Zimbabwe learned that her brother was dying of AIDs. Eventually, the doctors had sent him home from the hospital to die. Upon learning that his prognosis was not good, the woman began to cover her brother’s sores with a poultice made from amaranth grain fed him amaranth porridge, and mixed the flour into his foods. He recovered, and he is alive and living with AIDs today! There are many similar stories that challenge us to continue learning about the properties of amaranth.
In April of 2014, we hope to continue learning as World Renew carries out an indepth evaluation of our amaranth promotion work in Kenya and Uganda. This is something that I’ve worked towards for quite a long time, and now it seems certain to take place.
Tom Post
Team Leader
World Renew Asia