More lessons from Clarkson's Farm (they're not diddly squat)

Farming to survive

Clarkson himself points out, as we watch (spoiler alert – sorry) his most expensive and lucrative crop fail, that he is in the fortunate position of not relying on his farm income to survive, but he draws our attention to the farmers around him, who do.

And, as we consider them, and their very real distress and loss, we’re reminded that here in the UK, farmers live in a country where education for our children and vital medical care are free services. Our social infrastructure, however flawed, means that even at their worst point, it’s unlikely, currently, that our farmers will face extreme hunger or die for lack of clean water. While the struggles they face may be serious, terrifying and devastating, for many small scale farmers around the world in places where Tearfund works, who rely utterly on their crop to provide all of these things for their families, the situation is even worse. There is no fall-back support and the failure of their crops can mean the difference between life and death.

Particularly in light of recent widespread reductions in foreign aid provision, when the rains don’t come in season – when they arrive too early or too late or too much or not at all – families are pushed into poverty and hunger, losing the ability to provide their families with the things they need, whether that be medical help or education that will give their children the opportunities they need for the future.

Mental health and farming

And, along with the physical struggles, there can be a heavy toll on mental health taken by this uncertainty and the heavy losses and inability to provide – especially after investing money and long hours of often lonely, heavy toil.

What is Tearfund doing to help small scale farmers?

Because of all of this, Tearfund works with farmers facing poverty to help provide them with support. We do this through things like providing training in more climate-resistant farming techniques and crops, and also in finding alternative sources of income.

Disaster risk financing* (not nearly as boring as it sounds)

And another way we’re starting to help farmers facing crop (and potentially livelihood) losses is through disaster risk financing.

For smallholder farmers in Malawi earlier this year, this has proved to be a lifeline.

An insurance payout to Tearfund of over £80,000 has meant that, so far, 1,200 households reliant on farming in Malawi whose crops had dried out because of drought, have been provided with seed to plant drought tolerant crops, such as sweet potato vines and cowpeas, along with high value horticultural crops like tomatoes, aubergines and onions.

‘This is a key tool in tackling malnutrition,’ says Elizabeth Myendo, Tearfund’s Regional Lead for Southern and Eastern Africa. She explains, ‘We are preventing a hunger crisis before it takes hold.’

How do they know when to pay out drought resistant finance?

Instead of reacting after a crisis hits, this finance can ensure that aid is delivered swiftly and efficiently before the full effects of the disaster are felt. This also helps communities to be more prepared to cope and to recover more quickly!

It works through an innovative measuring tool that uses satellite data to work out how much water is available for crops in a specified area of farming land. When the level of soil moisture falls below an amount that has been pre-agreed, the drought payout is automatically triggered.

This means that Tearfund can access fast, transparent and reliable financial assistance, allowing us to provide relief to farmers and/or the community, mitigating their risk of extreme hunger.

Women in farming (there are a lot!)

Clarkson’s farm introduced us to a new character called Harriet this season. She’s strong, knowledgeable and capable. And she, like women in many of the places where Tearfund works, is a farmer.

In fact, it’s very common for women to be the ones who work the fields, labouring long hours to provide for their families, while also looking after their children, cooking and doing all the other household tasks.

That’s why, when Tearfund responds in situations like the drought in Malawi, we make sure that women farmers are looked out for, fully represented and included in any support provided.

Steila’s relief of sweet potato and cowpeas

Steila is one of the women farmers in Malawi who received a timely piece of support from Tearfund’s drought finance through our local partner, Eagles.

She says, ‘Firstly, let me thank Eagles, who noticed that our crops had dried up and came to register a number of people who were seriously affected by the drought. They gave us sweet potato vines and seeds for tomatoes, onions, aubergine and other leafy vegetables, so that we can grow them and sell the harvest to buy maize to feed our families.’

The staple dish in Malawi, the food that forms the basis of most people’s diets, is called nsima. This is a thick porridge made out of maize flour and water, and it’s typically eaten with vegetables and a protein (fish, beans or meat). But it was the maize crop that had suffered and largely failed when the rains were late, leaving families like Steila’s with a large gap in their food provision.

‘Giving us the vines and the seeds was timely,’ she says, ‘because as soon as they gave us the seed, we received some rain. The crops have done so well. I’m happy that my cowpeas are doing especially well and I’m looking forward to a bumper yield. I’ll sell some of the cowpeas but also keep some of them because they are very good protein.

‘[The drought has caused] a big problem and right now so many people have no food. For them to get something to eat, they have to go and do some casual work and get paid a little money to buy some food.

‘These seeds are transforming us because we are able to multiply the seeds and continue to use them in the future as part of our farming system that can stand the drought.’

Contingency plans

The choice of seedlings to invest in was worked out in line with recommendations from the Malawian Ministry of Agriculture and our local partner, Eagles, along with agricultural experts who monitor market value to help farmers make smart choices about what to grow to both feed their families and earn a living.

Steila and the other farmers given seeds have since been gratefully watching their crops grow because rain came just as they planted the new seeds and vines, but the system also provides alternative possibilities. 

Elizabeth Myendo explains, ‘If the rains had not come at all, the insurance package could have also been positioned to provide emergency food supplies to help families through a period of extreme hunger.’

She goes on to say, ‘The flexibility and varying levels of support this product offers means the people we work with will be more resilient to setbacks caused by extreme and unpredictable weather events.’

*Why disaster risk financing?

• Funding a response after the disaster has happened is not enough to reduce its impact
• Money spent helping people adapt before a crisis reduces how much it costs to respond in humanitarian relief
• Provides capability for earlier action before a crisis hits
• Helps improve countries and communities be more prepared to deal with predictable weather-related disasters
• Can help strengthen churches’ and communities’ ability to protect lives and livelihoods
• Enables funding before the disaster strikes on basis of forecasts
• Payouts are predictable and fast
• Current funding for disaster response is not keeping up with the increasing costs of climate related crises. With more disasters and greater cost for people, we have to find alternative solutions to disaster funding. This is one such solution.

If you’d like to support more work that helps keep people out of poverty and extreme hunger, please give here.

Poverty is not God’s plan. You are