update OCTOber 25

The long and harsh dry season has now ended. This year we decided not to reduce the number of daily staff to a minimum, instead we kept 10 daily staff through the whole season to provide maximum care, shading and watering, to all the young coffee plants. This was an investment which will pay off in time. Almost all of our young plants have survived!
The rain has started and Jacques has ensured seeds, seedlings, tools, boots and more are in place for the most important planting time of the whole year. 

​TWA

Nineteen children from the Twa village started school in September, an increase from 14 last school year! In 2019 no children in the Twa village attended school. This must be our biggest success story so far, and is the combined result of empowering the TWA through the microsavings programme, treatment of jiggers, improved family economy, and a greater understanding of the value of schooling. Our farm "foreman", Providence, and Alice, the village leader, have been the prime motivators all the way:)  We are so proud of this great achievement. 
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The School

The school has holidays in the dry season, but the internship programme on FF continues. Three more pupils have successfully completed the 12 week programme , and take home knowledge, new practical skills and moringa seeds for cultivation. 
As planned before the school holidays, FF has now supplied a dairy goat buck to the school. This goat will "service" local does(female goats) in the local community. FF and the school have a written agreement as to how this is intended to function practically. In the coming months, we will be trying out this model. 
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The FArm

Since January, we have run several trials on the farm. This is a practical method to demonstrate to school pupils, the farming teachers at the school and our staff, the results of alternative ways to cultivate and improve animal feed.   
Intercropping: soya (a nitrogen fixing plant) was planted between the moringa trees as ground cover, a way to increase land utilization and as a method to improve the soil quality. We demonstrated it was feasible, and had a positive outcome with a good soya crop and healthy moringa. 
Moringa as food for hens: fresh and dried moringa was given as daily feed to the hens. We tested how best to "administer" so the hens ate the moringa, and how much dried moringa should be given. Our hens increased their egg production significantly. We will make educational material for use on the farm and at the school to demonstrate this. 
To meet our need for fertilizer, we bought 2 truck loads of coffee pulp (the outer shell of coffee cherries which is removed to get the coffee "beans"). This is used in compost for the coffee bushes, the macadamia, banana and vegetables. 
At present the coffee bushes are flowering, a very beautiful sight!   

Left: soya beans. Right: soya planted between the moringa trees, intercropping. 

Left: moringa powder as feed for hens. Right: drying moringa, quantity for one day.  

Left: flowering coffee. Right: coffee pulp.  

​A dry season with little loss of plants, no water stops, and completion of maintenance of trees, bushes and buildings - all as we could have wished for! 

When we ask our staff what is the most important thing  for them when working at FF - everyone says the same, no matter what their role - getting their salary, and getting it at a set time.

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Thank you to all our monthly and sporadic sponsors, who make all of this possible!