Sprouting a Plan for Agriculture

                  Joel Wildasin is on his sixth month of overseeing the agricultural facet of Mavuno. He summarized his job and what it entailed in a brief interview.

sprouting seeds

Question#1: What is your job at Mavuno?

               
  I am trying to find ways of using agriculture to help Mavuno on-campus families become self-sufficient.

Q#2: Do you have a current project you are doing right now?

                 
Yes. The main project right now is making a small nursery to grow trees. I am also working on developing the family gardens and building an oil press for the Mbuguas to press their own oil. I am trying to construct a fuel-efficient wood stove for them to use as well.

the beginning of the tree nursery

Q#3: What are your goals for the Ag program while you’re here?

                
One of my major goals is to train people to take over the program and keep it going. I am hoping to develop the Mavuno land by means of trees and crops.

Bananas

Q#4: What do you especially love working on?

             
 I really enjoy doing projects like the wood stove and the drip irrigation I am installing in the family gardens. It uses technology appropriately to create something useful. I love trees as well and I am excited about their potential for Mavuno.

family gardens

Q#5: Please give a brief explanation of ECHO and how it helped prepare you to come out here.

             
 ECHO is basically a Christian organization that trains people who are working with small-scale farmers in agriculture. I worked at ECHO for three years; as an intern for one year and then on staff for two. I learned a lot about managing people which is very useful, especially with the language barrier. I also learned about farming in the tropics which is very different than farming where I had been in the States. I am learning so much here at Mavuno and I hope that I can somewhat get the Ag program going so that it can carry on and benefit the families here.

more family gardens