YES, YES, YES, Came the Reply
Maize Fields in Central Malawi … A. J. Batt’s invention of a feeder for planting maize has hit the spot in central Malawi where farming is done by hand and seed planting is handled one grain at a time. To complete the task requires bending down, standing up, bending down and standing up, hour after hour as small plot farmers place their seed and fertilizer one seed and one spoonful at a time into the ground.
Before the beginning of the planting season A. J. Batt of Brookston, Indiana saw the plight of the farm families, and set out to create a better way to put their crops in the ground. In short order he created a maize (corn) planter that would put the seed down by hand, yet at the same time remove the need to bend over repeatedly all day long, to place the seed in the ground. Several of them were sent to Malawi for field tests to see if they would work in the African soil, and if Malawi farmers would embrace the idea. After the tests were completed, the result was a resounding, “Yes,” “Yes,” “Yes,” they will do the job. Send many of them.” came the request from Wilson Tembo, Executive Director for Action for Progress, the Malawi non-profit organization with whom the Malawi Project works alongside.
“This opens the opportunity for Americans, in their home workshops, to make these planters. In that way they can support Malawi families in their efforts to support themselves. This can help overcome the negative power of famine that frequency spreads across the land,” said Ron Pottberg, Agriculture Director for the Malawi Project. “For a very small outlay of funds you can help a Malawi family plant their crops year after year,” Ron noted. “A great part of this is the fact this helps them stand on their own feet, and not call for someone else to help them. They can increase production and feel good about what they are doing.”
For more information, and to obtain flyers with specifications to build these units contact: Malawi Project, 2421 Golfside Drive, Lebanon, Indiana 46052, or email: info@malawiproject.org