A message from James Fischer, Director of Economic Development
Agriculture doesn’t just provide food; it is the primary source of income for most people in northern DRC.
Developing good seeds and proper training allow farmers to maximize their efforts and avoid catastrophic losses. This is what the Covenant Church of Congo, the CEUM, is doing to raise the standard of agriculture in their region.
The CEUM demonstrates the value of training and the importance of good seed, and they’re also leading the way towards self-sustaining programs. Their initiatives balance training and provision with production and profit. The CEUM’s work is inspiring and encouraging!
Paul Carlson Partnership and other Covenant ministries have supported the CEUM’s agricultural work in many ways:
- Farmers to Markets was designed to connect rural farmers with regional markets.
- Last year, with the support of Covenant World Mission, the CEUM was able to start seed production fields, and a Covenant church is funding the construction of a seed warehouse. The seed from these fields generates income for the church.
- Covenant missionaries living in DRC do agricultural training, consultation, and research.
- This year, Paul Carlson Partnership is honored to support a project that will offer technical training to farmers while providing certified seed to their communities. Profits from seed sales at two nearby ports will be used to sustain the project.
In conjunction with the CEUM’s seed project, Paul Carlson Partnership recently sponsored a three day training event for fifteen CEUM agronomists, run by the government’s agricultural authority. The trainers visited the CEUM’s fields, heard about their new initiatives, and were so impressed that they decided the government should fund the CEUM to do similar work in another community!
We want to use this space to celebrate the CEUM and the progress they’re making in agriculture. But farming is hard and risky work. So as we celebrate this progress, please join us in praying for the CEUM!
