Written by Ruth Hobbis

Joyce and Thomsoni live with their six children in Kela, a remote village in Malawi. As small-scale farmers, they rely on farming for their livelihood and survival, but struggle to produce quality harvests due to several consecutive years of drought and floods. Each family in the village owns only a small plot of land, and with repeated use the soil erodes and becomes depleted of its nutrients. Before, Joyce and Thomsoni struggled to put food on the table and relied on government handouts to feed their large family and send their children to school. Since participating in The Salvation Army’s agricultural training, they have seen an exponential change in their lives.

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The Salvation Army’s agricultural training program provides each farmer with seeds, tools, and manure and teaches conservation agriculture, a farming technique rooted in the Biblical principles of caring for God’s creation. Known by The Salvation Army and other faith-based organizations as “Farming God’s Way,” conservation agriculture is based on three principles: reduced soil disturbance, managing top soil, and rotating crops.

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Since participating in the training, Joyce and Thomsoni have expanded their farm from one plot to five and can now produce more and better quality crops which they can sell at their local market for a higher price. With these profits, they can afford to buy other types of food for a balanced diet, as well as medicine, school fees, clothing, and other basic needs. Joyce and Thomsoni no longer worry about not being able to afford their children’s education and can send them to school each day with a full stomach.