By Jason Streubel
A wind chill hovers at zero degrees Fahrenheit, new snow adds to the foot on the ground, and I’ve just finished an indoor run in Detroit. As I check off a new state on my running bucket list, I’m reminded that this time a year ago I was wrapping up a tour of running marathons in countries where Convoy of Hope had an agriculture presence. I was running one day and meeting with partners the next. From the foot of Mt. Kilamanjaro to Arkansas, I put on my running shoes and raised my voice in six countries over six weeks to tell the world that agriculture matters in the fight to alleviate poverty.
Looking back at the last year in Agriculture at Convoy of Hope, I’m amazed to know that over 2,900 farmers have been trained in 3 countries during 111 workshops. We’ve invested in more than 700 farmers, 431 of whom have recorded increased yields. My favorite stat, 340 farmers have begun saving seeds that in the past had been sold or eaten.
Another incredible number, 1.3 million meals were provided to our Children’s Feeding initiative by local Haitian farmers who we work with on a daily basis.
There are now community gardens, school gardens, and widow’s gardens in Africa, Latin America, and the United States. Like our farmer’s crops, our work is growing and increasing yield.
Seeds saved, increased yields, new staff, farmers trained, and here I am in Detroit running and meeting with local churches and organizations to discuss urban community gardens that are part of our agriculture work in the United States. Agriculture matters, and we have another year of results to prove it.
