Update september 2021

Highlights 
     😃 Coffee trees look promising with lots of blossom. 
     😃 We are ready to start the interbreeding program with the dairy goats.
     ☹ Water supply was broken for 5 weeks in dry season.
     ☹ School still closed so no activity.

​The DRY SEASON
The dry season, with no rain since May, is drawing to a close. During this period, for 5 weeks the farm has been without a running water supply. It was a challenge to source the problem and get it fixed. Our water tanks helped us for 2 weeks, but then we had to find new solutions to ensure our many seedlings and young plants survived.  For 2 weeks we employed 5 people from the Twa village to help to collect water from the river approx. 2 km from the farm. In addition, our interns made innovative shade constructions to protect the young trees in the demo plot, see pictures below

INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
Goal - to introduce schoolchildren to sustainable farming. 
After very positive feedback from the first 3 interns, the school principal and our agriculturalist, Jacques, we've decided to continue to develop our internship program. Three new interns began in July; Elie Mutabazi, Janvier Niyomugabo  and Pascasie Gatoyi. At this time of the year, their prime tasks are to assist and learn from harvesting moringa, pruning coffee and macadamia trees, worm tea application, and watering, watering and watering the 100s of needy plants!  
​We plan to initiate a program where the pupils who successfully complete the internship program on FRED'S FARM, train farmers how to cultivate moringa. This gives the pupils an opportunity to put into practice what they've learnt and  earn some income.

DAIRY GOATS
Goal -to introduce a more sustainable form of milk production than cows.
We are now ready to start the process of interbreeding between one of our dairy goat bucks and local goats. This will be organised with the help of the local vet. All our goats have identity tags now, and written records are in place, so we are able to  track the interbreeding process. 
Altogether we now have 15 healthy dairy goats. Every day, milk is provided to the most needy in the area.  
​We have 3 mature males, but need only two; one to service our own females, and one to service the local goats. Our plan was to sell the third, and interested buyers had contacted us. But due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, this was not possible. So now we have lent one buck to a local farmer. The vet chose this farmer as he has forage and is interested in our trials to interbreed with local goats. With the vet's help, he too will try this.

MORINGA
Goal - to introduce moringa as a sustainable food source.
NOW we're ready to roll out a large scale "moringa campaign"! Top priority is planting at the Twa village, the school and to hundreds of local farmers. The pupils from the internship program will help us implement a training program for those who get the moringa plants.
The local leaders and school principal are eager to plant moringa around a large area close to the school. This area is used as a "football pitch", playing field, and a meeting place for the locals.  
Seeds will be planted in the coming weeks once the rain starts. Some moringa tree seedlings on the farm died during the dry season but most are thriving. Leaves were harvested just before the dry season and people from the Twa village were invited to taste to get to know moringa.  

DEMONSTRATION (DEMO) PLOT 
Goal - to demonstrate how a small farm plot can be utilized for maksimum food yield, and least work, throughout the year.   
The perimeter of the demo plot has now been established with approx. 100 tree seedlings;  shade trees, fruit trees and moringa with napier grass planted in between. The interns have worked hard to keep these alive through the dry season by trying to provide shade, and by watering.  Plans for more planting in the upcoming rainy season are made! 

COFFEE and MACADEMIA
Goal - to create income for the FRED'S FARM to make it financial independent.
Next coffee season looks as though there'll be a considerably higher yield then before. The blossoming trees give us a good indication of this. The dry season is the season for pruning, so all our trees are pruned, and worm tea applied. 

TWA
Goal - to empower and support Twa to be part of local society including children attending school.
The people in the TWA village are struggling due to COVID-19 restrictions, with no possibility to move to get work. But they've been permitted to gather mulching materials, and water for the farm, providing some income. 
The present situation has highlighted the importance of prioritising making it possible for the Twa people to produce more food for themselves. This is planned for rainy season.  
​

SCHOOL
Goal - to support the school so the children get a better start in life.
There has been no activity due to COVID-19 restrictions. We will follow up of the moringa trees planted for food for schoolchildren and the lamp project when the school reopens.
​

Other
COVID-19 restrictions continues to mark the community. The school was closed again at the end of July. Reopening is planned in October. Movement of people outside of their closest surroundings has not been permitted for the past months, but agriculture is a priority, so work at the farm is permitted. Hence we have tried to provide extra employment in this period; in addition to farming activities, we have carried out maintenance work and made improvements.

Arne Ivar is the first to travel to Rwanda since the outbreak of COVID-19. He will visit the farm, school and the TWA village and give us an updated status. He will also bring home some green coffee for roasting here. There will only be 30 kg so if you are interested to buy, contact us!  

T-Shirts
We have bought 10 T-shirts with FRED'S FARM logo to use when activities are carried out outside the farm, for example when the interns teach how to plant and follow up the moringa trees.

Do you want to sponsor 1 or more T-shirts. One T-shirt costs NOK160.
VIPPS (only Norway): 98539 and write T-shirt 😀​

Thank's again to all of you who support the project. Without your contribution we could not continue our work.
​
RECONCILIATION
SELF SUFFICIENCY
MORE CHILDREN TO SCHOOL
​SUSTAINABLE FARMING

SUPPORT:
​In the past months more people now give monthly to the project, and we are especially grateful for this! But to have a predictable economy, we do need more. So we hope there are some more of you who will consider this:) 

Bank information
Bank account number: 4212 24 53957  
IBAN: NO58 4212 24 53957  ​BIC/SWIFT: SPTRN022
Bank name: SpareBank 1 SMN, Postbox 4796 Torgarden, 7467 Trondheim, Norway 
OR 
VIPPS (Only Norway): 98539