Foreningens historie/History of the association

Ideen til en forening dukkede op efter en rejse til Zambia i 2018, hvor vi under en studierejse afholdt et efteruddannelseskursus for lokale landmænd i Ipafu i kobberbæltet ca. 20 km. uden for Chingola.  

Kurset omhandlede, hvordan de lokale landmænd med få midler kunne omlægge deres valg af afgrøder, så de i højere grad udnytter markedet for specialafgrøder i nærliggende større byer med deraf følgende øget omsætning og indtægt. De fleste lokale landmænd i Kobberbæltet har ganske få hektarer og generelt under 5 hektar. Landmanden skal på denne begrænsede mængde jord opretholde en bæredygtig bedrift, der kan brødføde familien, som ofte består af minimum tre generationer. Gennemsnitsindtægten for en mulig deltager på kurset er ca. 500 kr./måned. 

Vi er to tidligere frivillige, Kirsten og Tage, der var udsendt af Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke fra 1988 til 1990. I de tre år fungerede vi som forstanderpar på Flame Tree Farm Training Centre ca. 20 km udenfor Chingola i Zambia. Vores primære opgave var at overdrage ledelsen til en lokal ledelsesgruppe fra lokalområdet omkring Ipafu. Det lykkedes i en sådan grad, at landbrugsskolen kørte videre med stor succes udelukkende med lokale kræfter indtil 2004. Flame Tree Farm Training Centre var fokuseret på at få unge arbejdsløse til at bosætte sig som landmænd og var baseret på bæredygtigt landbrug. I 2016 og 2018 var vi nede og besøget området og kunne se, hvordan Flame Tree Farm Training Centre havde påvirket landbruget i området. Den udvikling vil vi gerne være med til fortsat at støtte på forskellig vis og har derfor stiftet foreningen Agri Business Development. 

Foreningen har til formål at efteruddanne landmænd af begge køn, der har en lav indtjening.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

The idea to start an association popped up following a trip to Zambia in 2018, as we during that study trip conducted a course for local farmers in Ipafu in the Copperbelt app. 20 km. outside Chingola.

The course covered how the local farmers by few means can reorganize their choice of crops and production to be able to benefit to a higher degree from the local market for specialty crops in the nearby by bigger cities and thereby gain a higher turnover and revenue. Most local farmers in the Copperbelt have very few hectars and in general less than 5 hectars. The farmer will have to run a sustainable farm which can feed his or her family which often consists of at least three generations. The average income for a possible participant in the course is app. 500 DKK/month.

We are two former volunteers, Kirsten og Tage, who was sent out by Danish Volunteer Service/ Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke from 1988 to 1990. During the three years we were principals at Flame Tree Farm Training Centre app. 20 km outside Chingola in Zambia. Our primary task was to hand over the management to the local management team from Ipafu area. We succeded to such an extent that the agricultural training centre succesfully continued until 2004 entirely run by local management. Flame Tree Farm Training Centre focused at empowering young unemployed people to settle as farmers and the centre was based on sustainable farming. In 2016 and 2018 we had the chance to visit the area and were able to observe how Flame Tree Farm Training Centre had influenced the farming in the area. This development is something we sincerely want to support in different ways and therefore we took the initative to found the association Danish Agro Development.

The association aims at educating small-scale farmers of both genders.