Farming God’s Way Ministry

What is Farming God's Way?

Put simply, Farming God’s Way (FGW) is a discipleship program that helps poor subsistence farmers lift themselves from the daily struggle for survival.

FGW merges proven principles from God’s Word, science, and management to help poor farmers dramatically increase agricultural production from their fields. And it does so using the simple tools that God has already placed in their hands and in their land.

The result is a bountiful harvest of food where there was hunger, and glorious testimonies where there was hopelessness. FGW farmers are rejoicing that they can now meet both the physical and spiritual needs of their families as well as needy neighbors—like poor widows and orphans—in their communities.

How Farming God's Way Works

FGW begins with the formation of a “God’s Love Group” that will meet weekly before, during, and after they receive the technical training. Members will also learn how to help one another in all the ways that the Bible teaches. During the technical phase, farmers begin to learn new farming techniques that differ radically from traditional methods they and their fathers before them used.

  1. FGW farmers learn that God is the ultimate source of all our necessities in life. We need God’s blessings on our lives and on our lands to even survive. We obtain them by trusting and obeying Him alone. So, first and foremost, FGW farmers are taught to become true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. As He said in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
  2. They learn that God gave the earth to man to abundantly provide for all of his needs. God’s Love Group (GLG) members learn how to protect and restore land damaged by traditional plowing, which disrupts the ecosystem by destroying beneficial bacteria, insects and the natural blanket of decaying vegetation. Since they don’t plow their fields, FGW farmers plant their seeds in precisely spaced planting stations without disturbing the surrounding earth. This greatly reduces soil erosion.
  3. The students learn how to produce compost as a natural alternative to chemical fertilizers. They learn not to waste anything. Small branches, twigs, brush, crop residue, leaves, dried grass, and animal manure are all vital ingredients that together produce rich compost that is often referred to as “black gold.” A faithful FGW farmer who actively composts can virtually break his dependance on chemical fertilizers.
  4. Group members learn to apply “God’s blanket,” which is a thick, rich ground cover of light brush, crop residue, leaves, and dried grass used to retain moisture, protect the ecosystem in the soil, and prevent erosion. God’s blanket helps heal the land and restores healthy topsoil.
  5. They are taught crop diversification, crop rotation, and other strategies aimed at prospering their farms. With FGW, poor subsistence farmers can go beyond producing enough to feed their families to producing excess that they can sell for cash to pay their children’s school fees, medical care, or to buy clothes, or a bicycle. The economies of their rural communities will prosper as these once poor farmers become producers and consumers.

After their first year, it is not unusual for FGW farmers to see a ten-fold increase in their harvests. And by then each has learned the truth of Deuteronomy 8:18: “…Remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms His covenant…”

Where We Work

Africa is the most impoverished continent on earth, with approximately 750 million subsistence farmers. These farmers and their families live in deep poverty and hunger because their crop yields are so poor that they can’t grow enough to feed their families, let alone provide surplus to pay the small school fees to educate their children. Most can’t afford basic medical care.

Yet Africa is blessed with more natural resources than any other continent, with abundant arable land, water supply, and a favorable climate that can produce two harvests per year in some areas.

We believe that Farming God’s Way is part of God’s solution for Africa, and that it can be transformed from being the begging bowl of the world to being the breadbasket of the world. FGW is a tool provided by God for equipping and empowering the poor to make this transformation a reality.

We believe that the solution to these problems is not money, but repentance, new birth, Spirit-led discipleship, and a loving Christian community. Once these spiritual elements are in place, the Farming God’s Way technology can produce sustainable, abundant harvests. Poverty and hunger are overcome with Christ’s abundant life.

In the near future, we hope to implement Farming God's Way in other impoverished regions around the world.

Farming God’s Way trainer Dickson Shuwali shares produce from his garden near Malawi

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