Improving Lifestyle with Joy and Gratitude in Congo Brazzaville

Congo faces significant difficulties in agriculture, so coaches and participants in a training session in Brazzaville were creative and eager to implement, replicate, and learn more as they came up with some solutions to their problems.

The Alliance World Fellowship (AWF) in partnership with the Christian and Missionary Alliance of Congo (EACMC) and ECHO WA (Hope Against Hunger West Africa) started a training program March 29-31, 2023 in sustainable agriculture and microcredit. The aim was to strengthen the resilience of national member churches in food security.

The training raised participants’ awareness of four key aspects of agriculture: habitat, food, health, and race. The participants were interested in learning how to succeed in microcredit, commerce, and income generating activities (IGA). Microcredit is simply the practice of lending small amounts of money to new businesses such as Congo in the developing world. The meeting focused on the Village Savings and Loan Association (AVEC). Now, those who attended want to start chicken farming even though local poultry is not common for most Congolese.

Patrick, one of the participants, was happy to discover new techniques in agriculture. He used to pay a lot for chemical fertilizers, but now he can use biofertilizers to yield a quality organic harvest. And he can do it even in a small space with an above-ground garden using tires and any container.

Pastor Nicaise, the general secretary of the EACMC and current director of the Alliance radio broadcast in the country, was excited to be part of the session. “This training has changed our perception of farming and boosted us up to excellence,” he said. “We are thankful to God for the excellent, competent, and good-quality trainers we received for the session.”

“I am a journalist and a trainer,” Pastor Nicaise continued, “but I have been influenced by their excellent capacities of training. They have opened our eyes to organic farming with joy, respect, and consideration. We are proud of them. I can tell you that this room will not be large enough for the next training to welcome the multitude of those who will come.”

He added, “We have received new knowledge on how to value our product for the local and international market. We learned how to initiate and manage income-generating activities. And if we manage well and are well organized as a church we can grow up to excellence.”

Coming from a different district of Congo, Chanel appreciated the topics, but especially the hands-on training. “Even if you cannot write or read, you can understand and apply,” he said. “These are simple techniques, and the materials are easy to find at any time in our context.” He added, “Our delegation talked on how we can take this training to reach out to more persons. And we decided that we should start by implementing it ourselves back home, then we shall train other people from the different churches.”

Christiane, a pastor’s wife, owns a restaurant and loves organic products. She is excited about making biofertilizers and biopesticides even in gardens at home. Applying microcredit tools and techniques and improving the food will help her to offer better service in her restaurant in the capital city of Brazzaville.

The 45 participants at the conference were satisfied and valued the exchange of experiences, testimonies, questions, and answers. With songs in their local language and dance, they expressed joy and gratitude to God, to the EACMC, to ECHO WA, and to AWF for the new opportunity and experience in such a cooperative atmosphere.

Let’s pray for the replication of the training in Congo, for the new trainers, and the plans for improving their lives and industry.