GROWING SEEDS OF HOPE
Excited families receive our free open-pollinated seed
OUR ACHIEVEMENTS
Free open-pollinated seed packs distributed to needy rural families in Zimbabwe
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2017: 4,500 free seed starter packs
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2018: 8,000 free seed starter packs
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2019: 7,500 free seed starter packs (despite drought conditions)
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2020: 8,000 free seed starter packs
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2021: 12,000 free seed starter packs
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2022: 12,500 free seed starter packs
Our open-pollinated (OPV) maize (corn) seed project was initiated in 2015 at a time when destitute farm workers and growing numbers of other rural people across Zimbabwe were struggling to survive in the increasingly harsh economic climate.
Since few rural people can afford to buy expensive hybrid seed sold by the commercial seed companies, this means that subsistence farmers are unable to grow crops to feed their families.
Many have therefore resorted to chopping down trees to sell for firewood, decimating indigenous woodlands and causing significant ecological damage. Others have become gold panners whose activities have wrecked river systems, resulting in large-scale siltation of both rivers and dams.
Our latest crop will bring fresh hope. The main benefit of OPV seed is that it can be replanted year after year.
In comparison, hybrid seed cannot be replanted in successive years
without major reductions in yields.
Project background: To read an inspiring article explaining how, with just two Amish corn (maize) cobs from brought back from America, our executive director, Ben Freeth, upended an aid model in Zimbabwe, click HERE.
Contact us for more information on: info@mikecampbellfoundation.com