The Solution for Africa

Foundations for Farming – Formerly Farming God’s Way
Revelation to Feed A Nation

Brian Oldreive

The Solution

Foundation for Farming can reverse these trends because it brings a very effective and appropriate technology and implementation system and deals with the socio-cultural causes of the problem.

It is a natural law that those who are faithful with what they have, gain more. Foundations for farming principles protect and preserve the soil and rain a farmer is given.

In God’s natural creation:
1. There is no ploughing.
2. There is a wonderful mulch cover from the fallen leaves and plant material. This greatly reduces soil erosion and captures and transfers the precious water effectively to the plants, reducing the risk from drought, pests and disease.

The Problem in Africa

Foundations for Farming – Formerly Farming God’s Way
Revelation to Feed A Nation

Brian Oldreive

The Problem

Africa has 30% of the world’s natural resources and some of the best climate, rainfall and soils in the world. Africa has an abundance of arable land. Yet, over 35% of the population is chronically undernourished and the whole continent of Africa only contributes 1.3% to the world’s produce – it has the same GDP as a small country like Mexico. (Kofi Annan – World Economic Forum on Africa, February 2008)
In the last 50 years, Africa has received over US$2,000 billion of aid, yet the number of people living in poverty has increased.
While world grain production has been increasing, Africa’s production has remained stagnant.

Why is Africa gripped by poverty and hunger? Why is the situation getting worse despite all the aid being given?

With the use of traditional farming methods, Africa has seen a decrease in yields and an escalation of costs over many years. In a climate where rainfall is often limited to short intense periods, ploughed land is washed away and only a small amount of the available moisture is retained. Traditional methods have sought to extract from the soil without protecting it.

Revelation to Feed a Nation with Brian Oldreive

Foundations for Farming – Formerly Farming God’s Way
Revelation to Feed A Nation

Brian Oldreive

I’ve known Brian and Cath Oldreive for 13 years and they are truly remarkable. Stephen and I lived with the Oldreive’s for 3 months and they have become our “spiritual parents.” What you see in public is how they are in private: loving, honest, compassionate, humble, gentle, God-fearing folk - People who genuinely love the poor and have a heart to seeing the poor empowered. They are such a blessing to all who meet them. I love and respect them so much. We were so encouraged and inspired listening to Brian share at Operation Trumpet Call held in Bulawayo.

The Foundation
Foundations for Farming started many years ago when the farm which Brian Oldreive was managing in the North of Zimbabwe was nearing bankruptcy. Burning and deep soil inversion were common practice on the farm causing terrible sheet erosion to occur resulting in loss of seed and water. Increasing amounts of money were being spent on the machinery required for ploughing and double rollings of the lands, and yet the yields were declining.

Being a man of faith, Brian asked God to reveal a way for him to get out of the dire situation he found himself in. God began to reveal to him that in natural creation there is no deep soil inversion and that a thick “blanket” of fallen leaves and grass covers the surface of the soil. This led him to research how he could apply theses ways of nature to his farming. He began to experiment with zero-tillage using a simple hoe on 2 hectares at the highest standards possible. The results were outstanding and so he had the faith to increase the hectarage under zero-tillage. Within six years the whole farm of 1,000 hectares was under minimum tillage and in subsequent years, due to the yearly profits from then on, other farms were bought and he oversaw the farming of 3,500 hectares of net annually cropped area. The success of the principles advocated, are undeniable in his life’s testimony.

Brian chatting to Wessie and Craig

Foundations for Farming was born out of a man basing his farming and life on the foundations found in God’s word, the Bible. If you would like to find out more about these foundations, why don’t you read the Bible for yourself? We recommend that you start by reading these verses:
Proverbs 3:5 – 6
Isaiah 58
Matthew 25:14 – 30
Luke 6:38
John 14:6 – 7
Romans 3:23
Romans 6:23

Dynamic Mbonisi Malaba shares God's word....

Mbonisi arriving at Victory Fellowship in Bulawayo

Mbonisi Malaba, lead Elder from New Creation Church (River of Life church in Bulawayo) also shared a brilliant word. He spoke on The Trumpet Call. He said we are living in the days of a Trumpet Sound. Isaiah 58: “Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet.”

(1) Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins.
Mbonisi also read from Nehemiah 4:13 – 19.
Every believer should be asking these 4 questions:
1. Where are we now?
2. Why are we here?
3. What should we do?
4. Where will that take us?

Where are we now?
(2) For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.

(3) “Why have we fasted,” they say, “and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and have not noticed?”

Mbonisi preaching

Why are we here?
Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.
(4) Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.

(5) Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?

Christianity is both vertical (God and me) and horizontal (You and me). How are we treating one another? To work together we got to be together, be in agreement. Jesus is our answer.
What should we do?

(6) “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
What is oppressing the people? What is the yoke?

(7) Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter – when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

We should:
 Loose the chains of injustice
 Break every yoke
 Set the oppressed
 Feed the hungry

The word coming ALIVE. Relevant word for a relevant time.
Where will that take us?
(8) Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
Ephesians 3:10 “His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.”

(9) Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and He will say: Here I am. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

(10) And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.

(11) The lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land (There is hope for Matabeleland) and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

(12) Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.”

Listening to Dr Goodwill Shana at OTC

Dr Goodwill Shana

It was excellent attending Operation Trumpet Call yesterday. Over 20 different churches from the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ) were represented. Operation Trumpet Call is an initiative by the churches in Zimbabwe with the focus being on Foundations for Farming.

Dr Goodwill Shana – president of EFZ, opened with an outstanding message. Some highlights of what he said are:

1. Evangelical/Theological: basis of our faith
2. Fellowship: “fellows in a ship”
3. Zimbabwe: We are living in Zimbabwe

Dr Shana preaching

We are going through some stuff right now in the nation. We need the biblical aspect and fellowship to give us momentum to help Zimbabwe. “Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord.” God has a plan and purpose for Zimbabwe. The instrument God uses for His plan and purpose is the collective church – All of us together. The Church influences the Nation.


85% of people in Zimbabwe are church goers therefore I am an instrument of god’s mandate on earth. When a nation was in trouble, God uses the Church. If we take our eyes off God, He will allow things to happen: if we are idolatrous, have wrong values, disunity and disharmony etc, God allows hard times and persecution. He doesn’t allow compromise in a nation.

God is calling the remnant. We have an answer; we are the voice of God. In 2 Kings 7 we see how the word of the man of God changes things. We need the voice of the Church in Theology, in Fellowship and in Zimbabwe. Isaiah 6.
We need perishing paradigms to see prophetic perceptions. When things die, the only place to go to is to God.


The land is very important. We see with Adam – he was to look after the land – to work it. The church needs to influence the land: impact the generations through productivity of the nation. We preach in a practical way and Foundations for Farming is preaching in action. Christianity must affect us in every area of life. There needs to be a paradigm shift in the way we think. We are salt of this earth. 2 Corinthians 3: we are God’s garden.

If we nourish the nation, we’ll influence the nation. EFZ has 6 primary focuses and these are:

1. Food and humanitarian relief
2. Service recovery and delivery
3. Healing, reconciliation and unity
4. New dispensation of governance
5. Economy
6. Land


The EFZ has mobilized 10 provinces as we see our nation of Zimbabwe feeding itself in the WORD and FOOD.

Summarised by Molly Manhanga

What is Operation Trumpet Call about?

Peter Cunningham

As we watched the destruction of Zimbabwe within the context of a sovereign God there was a growing sense of a moving and preparation for a great work. Within the context the book of Ephesians tells us that his intent is that through the church his manifold wisdom will be displayed to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.

Operation Trumpet Call is the rallying call for the Church to rise and move with God in leading the nation in revival and change. It is a call to respond to the Isaiah 58 call to a “true fast” to action and to the meeting of needs of a dying and hungry nation. The call is for the churches to unify in spiritual reformation and practical needs to feed Zimbabwe, using the physical growing season as an opportunity to parallel the spiritual call of a seed dying to self, born again as a new creation, drawing sustenance in the spirit world and bursting forth to freedom and to an abundant harvest.

The call will center around all the churches uniting and setting up centers from which to teach agriculture and the parallel message of Jesus amazing life within us. It is a radical call to a new freedom in “gutsy grace”, to real change and new life and then to rise on the basis of his life in us to lead the nation in revival.

By Peter Cunningham