INTERNATIONAL AID
Canadian Foodgrains Bank 1998 Tour

Each year, the Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB) organizes a study tour of community growing projects for interested volunteers who have been involved with grassroots activities of the organization across Canada. The 1998 tour allowed Gordon Garlough of Williamsburg, Ontario, and seven other Canadian farmers, to visit Ethiopia and Kenya in Africa to examine projects on soil and water conservation practices, and education and extension.

The CFGB works with 13 church members in Canada, in partnership with churches in targeted developing countries to create self-sufficiency in food production for its residents. Many farmers live in isolated areas and use crudely constructed tools to produce a variety of basic crops, including white corn or maize.

One project took the travelers to a site near Machakos, in Eastern Kenya, 20 miles away from a visible road. Transportation, in or out, was limited to walking, bicycle or donkey. A Kenyan woman who, much against custom, operates her family farm, was developing cropping practices that included terraces, contour planting, intercropping and the use of supplemental fertilizer (if available), without the luxury of mechanical equipment.

Despite the heavy rains of the summer and lighter rains of fall, the priority for many of these communities is setting up a water distribution system to meet the community’s needs, such as wells and irrigation. The rains are a crucial determination in the success of cropping, but in 1998 the unpredictability created by El Nino could wash out and spoil the crops in the field.

For Gordon and his colleagues, the three-week experience, paid for by the volunteers, provided insight into basic farming practices which have changed little over the centuries. But the support the projects provide valuable lessons for farmers, who have little to work within a world which has almost forgotten them.

Canadian donations to the foodgrains bank in the last fiscal year totaled just over 15,000 metric tonnes. The target for 1998-99 is 16,000 metric tonnes. Donations have come from all parts of Canada, including wheat, canola and barley to soybeans, corn and a variety of other agricultural commodities. To learn more about Canadian Foodgrains Bank visit the organization’s Internet site at http://www.foodgrainsbank.ca/.

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