Hope for Communities : Food Independence and Local Enterprise
Hope Gardens is always open to supporting initiatives of local people that can raise the living conditions of the communities that they are living in. We provide employment, training, revenue and food for the local communities and our programmes run from Hope Gardens.
It’s always harvest time at Hope Gardens we gather the coconuts every 60 days, we have 3 paddy field harvest a year and there are always pomegranates to pick in February!
our paddyfield
2019 presented a giant step to food independence as we purchased a 3.36 acre paddy field adjacent to Hope Gardens. We had our first harvest in December 2019 and now we are preparing for our 5th harvest in Autumn 2021.
The rice from our field has been used to support families throughout the pandemic with 2.27 tonnes distributed.
We are now finalising the purchase of an additional 1.68 acres of paddy adjacent to our dining hall. To find out more about this initiative please click here for our information sheet. To make a donation click on the red button below.
A step forward in food independence
A message from Archbishop Samuel who is standing in the paddy field!
Bob our US chairman reports on the opportunity to purchase a paddy field adjacent to Hope Gardens.
I am excited about this investment for Hope Gardens. It’s going to create local jobs and provide the vast majority of the rice needs for the staff, the orphans living at the Gardens and the students. This is a hand up and not a handout. It’s going to create further empowerment opportunities for this financially challenged community and teach our bible college students a lot about raising and maintaining a rice paddy – knowledge that could benefit them significantly in the future"
Our small holding
Our small holding provides revenue, employment and enables training in basic farming techniques. The land where we have build our hostel, medical centre, dining rooms and bible college was a coconut plantation. This plantation still continues today providing revenue, employment and food for those living in the hostel.
It is always harvest at Hope Gardens! We have a coconut harvest every 60 days, 3 paddyfield harvest a year as well as corn grass, tamarind harvests in February, pomegranates in April and vegetables all year round!
In addition to our agricultural land we have cattle and goats which provide employment, milk and revenue for our charity.
cows, goats and vegetables!
We are very blessed to have been gifted animals to support our small holding. We employ a full time labourer to take care of the goats and the cows and assist with the farming within the Gardens.
In the Rhema Gardens there are a number of fields that are used for growing vegetables to feed the children in the hostel and also in the Bible College. In April / May the fields are ploughed. Vasthi’s video shows you the field near the dining hall as it gets ready to be planted with the next set of crops.