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My name is Alexandria Givens and I am raising money on behalf of a subsistence farmer in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He has shared the following message with me to post:
"My name is Kiebo Mwanza Floribert. I am 65 years old and the second child of a family of 12. Three have died from anemia and two from HIV. From a poor and desperate family, I am a farmer, father of one daughter and four twins. I live in the fields of Mulungwishi, with a family home in Fungurume, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Dear human brothers,
Give us the chance to live without hunger.
Hunger is one of the great scourges of this world. Coming from a poor family and community, I lived hungry for days and witnessed the pain caused by lack of food. Perhaps you cannot understand this. Hunger makes people emigrate, hunger kills with pain. When you eat every day, think that somewhere in the world there are hungry people and we are among them. This is why we come to your altruism to ask for help: “Help us to live without hunger.” If you give us some bread, tomorrow we will be hungry again. Give us something what can help us to improve our archaic farming and help us to survive during the next raining season.
Today, I am a farmer. An activity that I carried out to prepare for my retirement. Given that I am the second and first man in a miserable family, I had foreseen a difficult future. So, I started since 2008 in this activity. I worked as a maintenance mechanic for drilling equipment in Fungurume. The rural activity was supervised until 2021 by the parents and then by a cousin. The results are a catastrophe. With the non-renewal of my fixed-term employment contract in November, at 63 years of age, I think that God wanted me to take charge of this adventure where the potential to get us out of the hunger and insecurity are enormous. It is executed in the locality of Mulungwishi, Haut-Katanga Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 7 fields are exploited in 2 villages which are Katepe and Shamwange.
In Katepe, we have 3 fields:
- Mu Kilalo (in the bridge). here, 1 1/4 hectare. A little corn sown but grazed by the neighbors' goats.
- Pa Musebo (on the road). 2 hectares including 1 next to the river. (1 1/4 hectares sown with corn.)
- Ku Mushinki. 5 hectares including 2 cultivated with corn this year.
In Shamwange, we have 4 fields:
- Pa Tute (on cassava). 2/5 hectares with vegetables that have not germinated well. to plant tomatoes. From this month of January, preparation of the land. There, I planned to plant lemon trees, avocado trees, mango trees in a nursery like banana trees. Due to lack of financial means, I plan to sell the shrubs for this year. The idea will be accomplished next year if God lends us life and health.
- Munji (bottom). Almost 1 hectare. There are 30 avocado trees and 10 mango trees growing. There are other trees to add.
- Pa Mutumba (on the hill). 1 hectare planted with red-white peanuts. 15 avocado trees, failed project to plant papaya trees which grow well (the cousin having diverted the seeds).
- Mu Kinyanga (in the marshes). More than 5 hectares. Abandoned for 4 years, this is where we will plant the onions from March."
Here he describes the work and costs that have gone into his farming in the past, to give an idea of how much it takes:
"In October 2023: almost 1 hectare, poorly sown in my absence and part destroyed by goats. Mabungu seeds and yellow corn. No added fertilizers.
3 1/4 hectares of corn planted on November 23 and before 10/12/2023.
100 kg of Seedco 719 corn at 100,000 FC/10 kg. 11 bags of Npk 17-17-17 fertilizer used instead of 13 due to lack of finance. + transport from Fungurume to Katepe. = 140,000 FC/Bag.
Urea 4 bags instead of 5 in Katepe not Musebo (spreading done) It remains to find 8 bags of urea to spread in Mushinki. Herbicides used For October corn: 2 Kolopa bottles at 65,000 FC and 70,000 FC.
For Pa Musebo: manual weeding at 60,000 FC then Kolopa spreading 3 bottles at 55,000 FC/bottle - labor paid 30,000 FC. Mushinki: Herbicides used before emergence: 2 Parakwat bottles, I forgot the price/(2 Atrazine bottles/2 Acetachlor bottles/2 Nicomax sachets= 250,000 FC). Herbicides after emergence 3 bottles Kolopa (SNOW) at 55000 FC/bottle, 1 bottle remaining. Sowed in Musebo+workers' ration=170,000 FC+100,000 FC Sowed in Mushinki+workers' ration=340000 FC+100000 FC.
1 hectare of peanuts planted in Shamwange Pa Mutumba. Plowing carried out mid-September and mid-October 2023 by 3 workers called from far away from the site. Plowing 1 hectare at 400,000 FC Sowing at 210000 FC Workers' ration 300,000 FC Weeding 140000 FC.
Almost 2 hectares of vegetables planted before the rain last October: Chinese cabbages, headed cabbages, eggplants, Combo, Carrots, ngayi-ngayi vegetables on almost 1 1/2 hectares. Bad germination because I was still a worker and my manager, the cousin did not follow up properly and misappropriated some seeds and funds. The expenses were exorbitant.
Finally Mu Kinyanga, at least one hectare of onions must be sown there. That is to say 2 kg of Red Onion seeds and 2 white onions. Mowing per hectare 240,000 FC/Plowing 480,000 FC/Grassing 240,000 FC Sowing, price to be known at the due time of sowing, Urea fertilizer, number of bags to ask the cousin.I had planted there without fertilizer in previous years, I had very large bulbs. I am asking you to help us financially please here.
So far, the rainfall has not been bad: neither abundant nor deficient. The growth of corn and peanuts is good. Let's wait and see how high it will be.
Crops and trees that can be sold locally or in neighboring towns:
Corn is the staple food here in several provinces. Tomatoes and vegetables are highly sought after.
As for trees, the mango tree is the most common tree. Oranges are selling well, avocados are starting to be sought after, papaya and lemons are also selling well. I regret that I find myself having to sell more than 300 bushes of these fruits so that I can find something to support my next crops. It's getting us out of precariousness.
With your help, we can improve this job and pay for some credits.
God will bless you.
Thank you."