Global Food Initiative grants support church-based ministries in Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda

The latest set of grants from the Church of the Brethren’s Global Food Initiative (GFI) have been announced. They support ministries in Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda that are connected with Church of the Brethren denomination in each country including the Great Lakes Bible School, Farming God’s Way training, and a goat and chicken farming livelihood project.

Find out more about the GFI at www.brethren.org/gfi

Support these grants financially at https://donorbox.org/givegfi

Uganda

A grant of $20,000 support a goat and chicken farming livelihood project of the Church of the Brethren in Uganda. The project trains people in livelihood development and supports improved nutrition for vulnerable community members. The church in Uganda operates the Radiant Star Orphanage and Junior School in Hima, Kasese District, offering shelter, education, and care for orphans and vulnerable children. Additionally, many widows and struggling families in the nearby community are grappling with extreme poverty and food insecurity. This project aims to improve food security and generate income for both the orphanage and surrounding vulnerable households.

By combining livestock farming with Radiant Star’s current food production efforts of growing maize, beans, and vegetables on land they have acquired, along with a grain milling machine previously funded by GFI, the project will establish a self-sustaining ecosystem for food and income. The livestock will be fed using the crops already being grown, needing only a few extra minerals and vitamins to thrive.

Rwanda

A grant of $6,990 supports the Great Lakes Bible School, a ministry training program designed by Rwandan church leaders for Church of the Brethren pastors and others interested in Anabaptist ministry training. Grant funds will continue to support development of an agricultural training component for students, so that their theological and biblical education is combined with practical knowledge in sustainable and low-resource farming practices that promote soil conservation and natural amendments. Students will assist with workshops and agricultural education for community members.

Since early 2025, students have been raising sheep and growing tree tomatoes (tamarillos) on rented land. GFI supported land rental instead of purchase, since the school has not completed formal registration (a lengthy process in Rwanda). As students graduate, they will be gifted a sheep and participate in “passing on the gift” when the initial offspring is born. The school will also assist them in setting up home gardens. Through harvest sales and seed saving, this project will seek to reinvest resources in sustaining the farming project.

This grant will fund the second year of the project and allow the school to secure the land rental for a third year, ensuring that the investment on the tree tomatoes continues through their lifecycle of three years.

Burundi

A grant of $4,576 supports Farming God’s Way in the Church of the Brethren in Burundi. Trainings are given for farmers in Farming God’s Way, a holistic model of farming that combines faith and creation care with regenerative agricultural practices. The trainings support small-scale farmers in farming techniques that use fewer scarce resources, conserve water, and protect and improve soils without costly chemical inputs. The practices of Farming God’s Way include a no-plow technique, cover crops for soil protection, biodiverse crop selection, and soil amendments through compost and animal manure. This grant will provide community sustainable agriculture trainings for a total of 80 people in 2 communities that have Church of the Brethren congregations and have not previously received any training.

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