A New Tractor!!
Kanyenyeva Ministries purchased a new John Deere tractor in August, 2018. This tractor will greatly help with the work on the 133 acre farm that was purchased last year. The first growing season at the farm they planted 24 acres with maize and 35 acres ground nuts by hand.
Kanyenyeva Ministries (KM) harvested 613 50 kg bags of maize. The maize will be used for the feeding program starting in November or December, 2018, after the maize is dried and treated. The harvest across Malawi was about 1/3 of what they expected. The harvest at the new farm was about half of what they expected. The poor harvests were due to ill-timed rains.
The ground nuts were grown for a seed supplier, who will sell them retail. KM will receive a higher price for the ground nuts than selling them on the food market because they are ‘certified’. KM received a Certificate as seed growers for ground nuts. The money raised from the ground nuts will be used to purchase fertilizer and seed for future maize and ground nut plantings. The ground nut harvest was about ½ of what they expected. The rains and disease limited their harvest. 
KM plans to rent the tractor to other farms for additional income.
As they move into future years, the plan is to rotate crops on acreage. In about 5 years, they expect the farm to provide 90% of the funding and maize for the feeding program.
A huge thank you to Immanuel Lutheran Church in Crosby, MN. They donated the proceeds from their Manna for Malawi fundraiser for the purchase this tractor.
Chicken/egg business update
We are near the end of our fund raising to complete the chicken/egg business. The building has been built, a wall has been erected, the chickens have been purchased but not delivered. 
These things have been completed as the money is available.
We have raised $22,000 of the $28,000 needed to complete this project. Only $6,000 is needed to complete the project including finishing the chicken coops inside the building, installing a gate, purchasing feed and completing the installation of electricity and water.
Once this project is complete and the business is started, the profit from this business should fund one more day when the children can come to the orphan project for a meal!!!!! This project is the idea of the Board and Village Committee of Kanyenyeva Orphan Care Ministry. They continue to seek ways to be able to fund the feeding program themselves. This is the next step in helping them to become financially independent. The bus business that we helped them to start, provides the funding for one feeding day and this business should fund another feeding day.
Please prayerfully consider donating to help the orphan project continue to become financially independent. Their goal is to be able to fund the orphan project themselves. Our donations now will help them to become financially independent in the future. Any amount is helpful!!! Click here to donate online through paypal. If you prefer, you can send a check to:
Malawi Orphan Care Project
53 Park Ave. West
Mansfield, Ohio 44902
Please write Chicken/egg on the memo line of your check.
Let’s partner with the people of the orphan project to help them be able to provide for themselves and help their community work it’s way out of poverty.
Another Chicken Business
In December, 2012, a generous gift of $10,000 was given to the Kanyenyeva Orphan Care Ministry for their use as they desired. With the funds, they chose to start another chicken business to help increase their financial independence.
The board of KOCM believes that they will be able to make more money with a larger business in a more populated area. Their original goal was to raise 1,000 chickens but due to the more than 30% inflation rate in Malawi, they needed to scale back to 500 chickens.
In January, land was purchased in the capital city of Lilongwe and the building began to go up. Chickens were purchased and will be brought to the business when the building is completed.
This building is almost ready for the 500 chickens that they have purchased. They chose to purchase the chickens before the building is ready because the cost of the chickens continues to increase. They are able to stay at the place they were purchased until these buildings are ready for them.
At the orphan project, the first group of 50 chickens is still laying eggs and provide a net income of about $40/month. Please pray for success in this new expanded endeavor.
