Foundations for Farming Report Season B 2025/26 - ACLUP, DR Congo

2025 to 2026 was a year with troubles in our region. People were displaced from one area to another. This complicated a lot the humanitarian actions along the different villages. ACLUP led by a spirit of serving others deployed a team in some practicable areas like Kabare, Katana and Kalonge. Foundations for Farming program adopted to extend trainings and practicing the agriculture of cabbage and onion for the Season B (February 2026). Trainings were organized with 6 groups in Kabare (Bushwira and Cirunga zones), and in Kalonge (different groups gathered in churches). Due to the fact of displacement of people, some people from Kalehe were trained in Kalonge where they were installed for a short time.

Following these various training sessions, we received the support of religious and community leaders who stood in solidarity with us. Recognizing the importance of the training, they raised awareness among the local population, prohibiting them from letting their goats and cows graze near the onion, cabbage, and tomato fields.

In light of its vision and the current situation, ACLUP has decided to promote resilient agriculture—specifically the cultivation of cabbage, tomatoes, onions, and other types of vegetables. Our approach is adapting well to current realities. The population is plagued by extreme poverty. Displaced people can engage in vegetable farming as a means of resilience, and it is working.

Recent Events

Revisiting the Clubs of Farmers

With our methodology for the peace building, we usually gather people mixed from different areas of the zone. Now our 114 groups has passed to 150 clubs of farmers. Their role is to work together by integrating our approach of the blanket of God as a Christian organization. Our values are preached to constitute a strong community with the determination of living together.

Clubs of farmers have a mission of helping the organization to identify some pouch of misery and proposing the solutions. From these clubs, we were able to observe that the meetings now bring about social cohesion. From the clubs, collective work is organized in the fields according to a pre-established program. Once the collective work in a field is completed, they schedule other economic support activities, particularly income-generating activities.

Behind all these initiatives, ACLUP has the interest of preaching social cohesion, forgiveness, and love of neighbour according to the word of God. Through the various testimonies of local authorities, they say that our approach is bringing lasting peace to the areas. 

Trainings

The training sessions took place despite schedule changes necessitated by instability in the area. The first session was held from November 27 to 29, 2025 (Mumba/Kalonge), and the second from December 11 to 13, 2025 (Caminunu/Kalonge). As planned, we discussed various topics related to our standard training module, placing a strong emphasis on promoting vegetable farming. Communities from Kabare joined the others for this training, learning how to engage in local production and build resilience against the persistent poverty affecting our communities.

During the training we discussed about these topics:
- Land use
- Preparation of the well-watered garden
- Mulching
- Compost
- The principles of on time, with joy, not wasting and doing everything with excellence. 

Vegetable Season B

Through the various training sessions organized, the community demonstrated a need for support and a willingness to follow our recommendations. As an organization, we recognized the clear value of promoting vegetable farming. Based on the training recommendations, we decided to launch a "Season B"—designated as the "Vegetable Season." ACLUP and Rehema Mercy Ministry agreed on the feasibility of sourcing seeds locally and distributing them to at least 100 farmers for a trial run this season. As the seeds were locally produced, results varied: some germinated successfully, while others failed to germinate, despite the different techniques employed by the farmers. The situation was particularly critical in Kalonge, given the large number of displaced people forced to flee their homes and left to endure ongoing, severe suffering.

For this reason, we made Kalonge a priority. We distributed cabbage seeds to 30 households and onion seeds to another 30—a total of 60 households, 20 of which were identified as displaced families. In the Kabare area—specifically in Kashanja (Kavumu) and Katana—we distributed tomato seeds to 20 households and onion seeds to another 10. Follow-up work was challenging; some of our teams visiting Kalonge struggled to return because rebels had blocked the road at Kafurumaye for over two months. Consequently, follow-up in the Katana and Kabare areas was lacking.

Soil Preparation and Seedbed Preparation: The communities were brought together to receive instructions on how to prepare seedbeds. We were able to gather people from their various places of origin to follow the steps involved in obtaining healthy cabbage, onion, and tomato seedlings. This work was carried out carefully, following the three-day training program.

To begin with, we prepared the soil, and subsequently, the work of laying out the small fields began with great care and joy. After the seedbeds were prepared, the seedlings were moved and replanted by the community in the various fields. This work was highly selective regarding seedling quality. We had noted that the seeds were locally selected; consequently, some germinated successfully, while others struggled to grow. Onion, cabbage, and tomato seeds were tested in most of the villages, as mentioned above. The various fields were not visited due to the difficulty of reaching the 100 households.

These club members work in groups and often come together for community service and to read the Word of God together. They have been a tremendous help to us, especially in building social cohesion.

Visits to the onion fields show that the seeds have sprouted and produced a good crop, ready for harvest by the end of June 2026.

In every village where the seeds were distributed, the results are the same. Community satisfaction is palpable everywhere.

Prayer and Praise Points

We ask for prayers that the Lord may protect our members from the spread of the Ebola virus, which has already killed more than 200 people in the eastern DRC.

Conclusion

Through our various initiatives aimed at promoting vegetable farming as a means of subsistence for populations displaced by ongoing conflicts—and now facing the Ebola crisis—we continue to highlight the challenges encountered, as follows:

1) The population is currently in need of assistance, particularly the provision of seeds, to continue the "Vegetable Season" project. This will involve preparing for Season A, starting in September 2026. The 100 households used as a model must be evaluated, and the harvest results they achieved must be specified.

2) We observed that most households were overcrowded with extra members. This was because many families had fled villages near Kalehe to seek refuge in Kalonge during the war, and they are now facing difficulties returning to their home villages. To facilitate their return, they need to cultivate crops for "Season A" and generate the financial means—through the harvest—to help them go back to their respective communities.

3) We continue to seek financial support from Bright Hope World to effectively combat poverty through this project, which appears highly resilient and well-suited to the current context. The local community aims to grow vegetables and transport them to the market in the city of Bukavu, located 65 kilometers from Kalonge and Kabare. This is an effective way to achieve self-reliance.