Farmers engaging in charitable works is not new. For years we have seen many growers involved with food grains projects were a plot of land is harvested and then shipped to needy areas of the world. Similarly the Harvest of Hope campaign is one that encourages growers to pledges so many bushels of grain, that grain is turned into money and the money is given to United Way.
Jebel Lado is another unique project involving farmers, this one brings equipment to the peoples of poorer countries and teaches them how to use it to grow food. It's a project close to Robert Boyer's heart and he is with us today to share a little bit about it. Before I ask you how a guy like you who runs an advertising company called 'on communications' ends up growing crops in Sudan and places like that.. Tell me first of all, what is, and am I saying it right, "Jebel Lado"?
Yes
What is it?
Well it's a farm project put together by business leaders in the city of London , to help bring mechanized agriculture to Southern Sudan . And it's the old analogy, if we can teach people to fish, they will eat forever. And the whole idea here is to teach those individuals and to bring modern day farming practices to Southern Sudan . Um, so we don't have to have that humanitarian aid year after year after year. So, through economic development, economic assistance, teach them how to farm, bring mechanization. We go off a model that's very similar as to how Canada was started or how North America was started. To bring agriculture, to bring an economy, provide enough, you know, health and food and nutrition for a family but when there is surplus, we can certainly sell that to the open market.
Well, lets all start on the same page here… Where is this project and when did this all start?
Its in Southern Sudan, mostly in the middle of a continent of Africa . The project has started roughly about four or five years ago. There was another farming project which was the cultivation and harvest of what they call "gum Arabic" or gum Africa ". We've moved.. now that's been a very successful project…we've moved now to a more sub-seherra region, which is more condusive to cash crop, vegetable production. And now we're going to be growing crops like sorghum, which is their local staple.
Now you're in an area of the world that we hear in the news a lot.. they've been in a civil war for a couple of decades now. Why are you going there? What are you trying to do there because there was agriculture there before, was there not?
Yes. There was agriculture there before a lot of their civil war which lasted for 20-21 years. The biggest reason we're going there and some of my clients is because it's that you know, compassionate need and that humanitarian effort but not only do we want to bring as much as we can to that part of the community to help the region but strategically, what is the best way to bring humanitarian need. So bringing our business skills, agriculture skills, marketing skills, all these skills we've developed, obviously over these years and in my life time and background, bring it to this region and really grow that economy through agriculture.
Now for farmers watching, they're thinking 'ok, so you're going to help build the infrastructure of farming', have you got any infrastructure to work with, after civil war.. are there roads? Is there electricity? What have you got?
Well, I think a lot of farmers and a farmer myself will appreciate is that we really have all the co-operation from the local government which is GOSS, which is the Government of Southern Sudan. Kevin, the way they approach it, if you need a road to make this happen, build it. If you need to draw water from the Nile to Uruguay , draw. There are no permits, there's no engineering… So, when food is a necessity, obviously a lot of those things go to the way side. So we have huge cooperation with the understanding there is no infrastructure. On our first trip, really it was more of a logistical trip to say 'where can I get parts?' 'Where can I get metal?' 'Where can I get welding?' 'Where can I get supplies?' We're trying to bring as much infrastructure as possible over there with overseas containers, but there's going to be certain things we're going to source like diesel, we're going to need to source repairs, we're going to need to source tires in the event of any flats or etcetera. So, those are there.. they're quite a distance from the farm-about two hours, but we can source those materials.
Now what can you grow there?
The main staple is sorghum, so it's a white grain sorghum, and that's a major diet of the local tribes there. They use it as a flour, they use it as a porridge in the morning. That's their main staple. They grow enough really beside their hut on small plots. They have no tools. When we were there I asked once for a shovel just to take some soil tests and it took about two days to source a shovel.. (Kevin: Oh my goodness) So that's just to give you an idea they just don't have the tools to work the land. They work very small plots if there's any kind of decrease in yields, and they're already starting with poor genetics, you know they won't have enough supply to make it through the year so again, we want to expand that operation with sorghum; we're looking at other crops as well too. We believe there's a huge market for soybean production with the intent to produce bio-diesel. One to make the farm self sufficient because the size of the farm we didn't mention, we have a memo of understanding from the Government of Southern Sudan for 20-thousand acres of production. Our first year, we need to clear some land. It's not hut-heavy brush but its more clearing and disking the land. We're looking at 250 the first year, moving that to 500 and then to a 1,000.. and working our way up within a five year time period to 20-thousand acres under production.
From a layman's prespective, we look at these pictures that you've provided of the area where you're going to build this farm, and a research farm you mentioned.. and the layman's response is 'You've got to be kidding me'. I mean really, you can actually grow stuff on this?
Yes. Yes. Some of the shots you see here now, you have to understand, it's a dry season which is equivalent to our harsh winters in Canada here. So during the dry season, everything dries out. That's when weeds are killed, similar to our frost. A lot of insect pressure is killed, any disease pressure, that's when it's killed during the dry season. Very very hot temperatures, you're getting up to 45 Celsius to 50 degrees Celsius during the dry season. Coming into March and looking at the rain records, talking with a lot of the locals, seeing what was done before, that's when the rain season comes. They have sufficient rain to produce crops in that 90-120 day region… So again, that's what we're going to rely on. You do have the opportunity to grow year round but then you'd have to look at irrigation from the Nile.
So do you have.. when I talked about infrastructure, I guess I'm talking about a whole lot of things.. I mean you mentioned a shovel, all of a sudden my assumptions just changed…Is there a Ministry of Agriculture?
There is a Ministry of Agriculture. There is one thing that the government has set up right off the bat, is their government structure. So there is what they call their State Ministry of Agriculture and then there's for Ministry of Agriculture for what they call for Southern Sudan for the whole country. So there is level and there is process. They have a Ministry of Mechanized Farming. Well we visited with that individual, they have no equipment. (Kevin: Wow) So, they have an office, the writing policy for when one day when they become a major export or a major producer of crops, that that infrastructure will be set up but to realize that there is nothing there. I mean after twenty years of war everything's been destroyed, lost, stolen, whatever. There's just nothing there in the region so we're helping to bring that back.
So that help has been coming in the various ways. You've been asking farmers in Canada or the U.S., agribusiness… Specifically, what have you been asking for and what have you been receiving? What's the response?
Well the response has just been phenomenal, which is great, and we really do thank the media from print to TV and radio and putting that message out there for us and from agribusiness we've had sponsors like Syngenta who has supported us with seed. We have Petro-Canada lubricants for example, giving us lubricants anything from transmission to gear oil to grease. John Deere has helped us source some tractors, local John Deere dealerships as well. From the grower level, you have to understand, we've asked for simple things: shovels, ratchets, screwdrivers, grease guns, wedges, pry bars. Whatever you need in farming practices, they have nothing that we have to send over there. So the farm community has been phenomenal. We've had a lot of donations. We've had ploughs and cultivators. The way we've positioned is we're starting off with smaller hundred horse power tractors, 90 horse power tractors. Equipment that three feral ploughs, ten foot disks, cultivators, traditionally maybe sitting behind the barn right now… as farmers grow and expand, equipment gets larger.. these kind of get left behind, that's the kind of equipment we're looking at.
Really? Wow, suddenly I feel old. See, when I grew up on a farm, our biggest tractor was 86 horse power and I thought that thing was huge. But wow.
You put your hands into the soil, and you said you needed a shovel to get… Give me an idea.. is there tilth in that soil? Is there a soil in Canada that is comparable to what you're dealing with?
I've done some work. I compared it to say hiesson in Quebec. If we've ever done any work up there, it's more of a black loam. It does get a bit hard though, certainly during the dry season, but they have a... right at the end of harvest, you have to get your crops off, some before the snow comes in Canada, there, it's with the heavy rains and they actually have a flood from the Nile in that region. So the soil test had a lot of tilth in there actually. The biggest challenge is going to be the build up of organic matter. Not being farmed for so long, we need to get a lot of organic matter in there, and how can we hold the nutrients and how can we hold the moisture in there.
I want to read a comment that I thought was interesting in your email... You said one farmer asked your wife, whose watching us in studio.. if you understood farming in the Canadian praries?' Explain that question.
(chuckles)
Well it was interesting because there's a fella we've identified over there.. his name is Tom and he's our farm manager and he is fluent in english which obviously helps.. He has farmed about 20 years ago in that region so he knows a lot about the weather patterns and what not. And he said to us at one time, he said, "Well if you're from Canada I know that you know how to farm" and Michelle asked, 'Well what do you mean?' and he said, 'When I was a young boy in school we took about agriculture in the Canadian praries so he says 'if you come from Canada you must know agriculture' so, that threw us off a little bit but it was interesting how they know Canada and our agriculture background. So they're very excited for us to be there.
Tell me about your timelines.. When do you hope to grow crop, and how big will it be? And what will it be?
March 1st, we're looking to, sorghum will be the main production that we'll be planting. We're also planting soy beans for that bio-diesel perspective. We are also bringing over some corn seeds as well too from a silage prespective. There is a large livestock contingency in that area but really goat is the main meat. Cattle are raised, but it's interesting, cattle is used more as a signature of wealth, and for a barter system... So they're not actually raised to be fed. So that will be the main crop that we're looking at.. and again it's going to be research so we're going to be testing everything from seed depth to row width to in terms of seed density, just to see what's the best practices are going to be over the first and second year. That's why we're not expanding in such a big way right off the bat. So we want to see what the best practices are going to be.
You are sending a container of ... what are you getting? what type of equipment?
Two containers are going over. The first one, the majority is to plant the crop so we're sending over two tractors, artillage equipment to clear the land, disks, cultivators and packers and seeding equipment. The second one will be harvesting equipment. Also you have to understand the logistics for seed storage. We'll be using the overseas containers for seed storage to keep it dry, and we're going to have to bag everything because that's how basically everything is marketed.
Well there are a million thigns we could talk about but the one last question I want to ask you is you sent me an email about a year ago I think it was and a line from your email, if I'm allowed to read this, I didn't tell you about this...You said : It's amazing where life and clients take you and get you.. so how and why are you involved in this?
Well, that's a prime example.. I mean our ad agency, we deal a lot with agriculture clients but we also have non-agriculture clients and it's actually a developer from the city of London that we did some work with that had been doing some humanitarian work and when he found out my background and in farming and having farmed he said you know .. he's the one that brought that idea... he said that's how canada was really developed and he says we can do the same for Southern Sudan. He asked are you interested? We said sure, lets go! And you know when you both have 'A' personalities, We're the people that say we're going to do it, lets do it and just get it done.
Well for those people who are interested, the organization is Canadian Economic Development Assistance for Southern Sudan . Their website CEDASS.ORG and click on the "Jebel Lado" project link. Rob is chair of the project and it's been a pleasure to visit with you.
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