We have an urgent need and we need your help.
The United Nations World Food Program is warning that 8.5 million people in Zimbabwe are in danger of starvation in the current drought. This program will give maize seeds to needy families and orphanages in Zimbabwe so they can grow their own food to avoid starving. But the rains come in mid to late November and the seeds must be in the ground before it rains! I Want To Help Africa is the IRS approved nonprofit that’s operating this project (which has a gold rating on GuideStar.org)
I Want To Help Africa is joining forces with Dr. MacRoberts of Mukushi Seeds Company in Zimbabwe to supply seeds to small-scale farmers, rural families, orphanages, and schools to be able to grow their own food. Dr. MacRoberts hybridized a strain of maize (corn) that is perfectly suited to Zimbabwe and especially to the drought conditions faced there recently. You can access Dr. MacRoberts’ video on YouTube that shows how he is teaching people in Zimbabwe to farm successfully even in drought: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RFZZgAa1G0
The staple of every Zimbabwean’s diet is maize, which is generally eaten at every meal, either as a porridge or as a thick bread substitute similar to polenta or grits that you hold and eat with your hands. It is usually eaten with meat and vegetables or, especially for the poor, may sometimes be all that a person has to eat.
The maize seeds come in packets of 10,000 seeds, which plants a quarter hectare (more than a half acre). We can purchase these 10,000 seed packs for US $14.00. So far we have purchased 46 packets (US $450.00) to feed more than 46 families, an orphanage, and a school for orphans. Please help us to enable these Zimbabweans to grow their own food and feed themselves. Simply click on the donation buttons above.
For each packet of seeds the families need two bags of fertilizer to obtain an adequate yield. The required NPK compound fertilizer can be replaced by animal manure, which is plentiful in many areas. But the rural populace has no replacement for the required 50 kilogram bag of nitrogen fertilizer that is used as a top dressing. We can purchase a bag of nitrogen fertilizer for US $30.00. The compound fertilizer costs the same.
All these purchases, of seeds and fertilizer, are being made in Zimbabwe, of Zimbabwean products, which will help support their economy. And all the seeds and fertilizers are being supplied to families and orphanages who will plant, raise, and harvest the crops on their own, thus encouraging their self reliance.
We are also splitting packets of seeds for people who live in cities, since most of them don’t have a ¼ acre to farm, although so many people in the cities also grow as much maize as they can for themselves.
Simply click on the donation button above. Thank you very much for helping us with this urgent need!