Update June 2026

The period from our visit to Rwanda in January til now, is one of two rainy seasons. On FRED'S FARM (FF) we are preparing for the long,  hot dry season.
 
A month ago Fred's half-brother was given the legal right to use some land on FF. Temporarily, the area he was given access to, is some of the best coffee producing areas. This casts a shadow on activities at present but will hopefully in time be changed. 

Otherwise the trend on FF is positive.  We feel great pride in the work Jacques and the rest of the staff do every day on FF, and the local community, especially the collaboration with the school and in the Twa village.
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​THE GOATS
​Several of our dairy goats have given birth around the same time, altogether 6 healthy kids. Quite a family! 

Goats milk at FF
With kids, there is milk available. The value of goat's milk is now understood in the local community, and 3 mothers with undernourished children came of their own accord to the farm to get milk. Our routine is to measure the degree of malnutrition using “Mid-Upper Arm Circumference”  (MUAC). This is the simple “gold standard” used by NGOs, e.g. Medecins sans frontiers, UNICEF etc. The infant's arm is measured before beginning to get milk, and the children continue to come to get milk until they are not defined as seriously undernourished. This can be 3- 6 months, occasionally longer. Mothers also get moringa to help improve their health.  

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Dairy goats @ Kizi school
Two healthy kids were born at the school. Five nursery school children get milk on a rotation basis. The school prioritizes the children with most need. 

The bucks at the school provide free "servicing", so local farmers can bring their local goat female to the school for mating. These local goats must be healthy and big enough to manage to bear a larger kid through pregnancy and birth. This has resulted in four 50% dairy goat/local goat kids! 

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Dairy goats beside Twa village
Our farm foreman, Providence, lives beside the Twa and is a true role model and motivator. In January she received a purebred dairy goat buck and provides a servicing facility. Local goat owners who look after their animal well, and have a healthy and big enough female, can bring their female local goats for servicing. This is provided free of charge. Three owners have come forward and the result is 4 kids which are 50% purebred Saanen goats. Shortly these 3 females can be milked, and children will benefit.

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TWA
A core group at the Twa village have nurtured the tiny moringa plants we saw in January, and many have now at least 4 healthy moringa saplings. FF staff have guided and encouraged along the way. It's the harsh dry season challenge ahead, but we are very hopeful these delicate trees will manage with guidance until the next rainy season.

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FARMER TRAINING
Local farmers have in the past months shown an increased interest in both moringa and dairy goats. In response to this, Jacques organized a training day for 100 local farmers on Saturday 20th June. Some have already succeeded in growing moringa, and wanted advice on how to tend their young plants during the dry season. Others were motivated to begin. Some Twa from another village participated, and have already formed 2 working groups in their village to start to grow moringa.  

So all this is very positive.

MORINGA cultivation for Kizi school
The farming club at Kizi school has planted moringa seeds at FF, and is following up. The intention is that once these trees have grown, the moringa leaves will be used in school lunches. Moringa is successfully grown at the school but production is not high enough. Hence FF has lent land to the school for cultivation. 

COFFEE HARVEST
Due to the land issue with Fred's half-brother,  FF "lost" 15-20 % of the coffee crop this year. 

The  coffee harvest began almost 3 months earlier than usual, the result of a rainy season which never seemed to arrive. Our coffee bushes seem to have tolerated this stress, and harvesting has continued until now. The total quantity harvested has increased since last year, and the percentage of high quality coffee has increased. The yield pr tree has increased, and the quantity of sold coffee has increased despite having to forfeit an area to Fred's half-brother.  Slowly but surely the income from the coffee is increasing. 

In November, we plan to visit Rwanda, so there will be freshly roasted Rwandan coffee for Christmas:)

Wishing you a good summer!!

​Thank you for all support!
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