Foundations for Farming

Foundations for Farming Zimbabwe

Foundations for Farming is an initiative aimed at bringing transformation to individuals, communities and nations through faithful and productive use of land.

Background

Foundations for Farming started many years ago when the farm which Brian Oldreive was managing in the north of Zimbabwe was nearing bankruptcy. Burning and deep soil inversion were common practice on the farm causing terrible sheet erosion to occur resulting in loss of seed and water. Increasing amounts of money were being spent on the machinery required for ploughing and double rollings of the lands, and yet the yields were declining.^[1]

Pfumvudza Concept

Pfumvudza/Intwasa Farming Concept was developed to answer the following question. "How much land is required to feed a family"? Using all the Foundations for Farming principles and assuming that a family would require a bucket of maize per week to provide their staple diet, the following model was developed. To fill a bucket with shelled maize you would require 56 cobs weighing 300 grams each. If each maize plant produced at least one of these we would require 56 plants.