Sunflower seeds ready for pressing

Still need electricity installed

Donate to our Electrical Installation Fund.

 
Sunflower Seeds  Our warehouse has a good supply of seeds to press into oil.  These are all in our new warehouse connected to our oil pressing plant.

Oil Pressing Building and Oil Seed Warehouse  Half of this building is where the oil pressing equipment will be installed.  The other half is the oil seed warehouse.  The building is designed to grow with the business.
Sunflower seeds being off-loaded into the oil seed warehouse
Oil seed warehouse full of sunflower seeds
Oil pressing room awaiting installation of electricity

Please read more about our electrical installation need and consider helping. Follow this link.

Electricity for Oil Processing

Our oil pressing building is complete.  We have purchased the oil press, filter, seed cleaner and various other oil seed processing equipment.   

This machine runs on electricity. We have researched a number of options for power, including solar.  While we still would like to utilize solar in the future, we have realized that connecting to grid power is still in our advantage both now and in the future.  We have begun to raise funds for grid installation.  The local power company has given us the estimated installation fees to bring high tension three-phase power to our oil plant.  Click here to see the full estimate from TANESCO.  The total is equivalent to $25,600 USD.  We have $15,800 raised already, leaving us with $9,800 USD yet to raise.

Please read more about our electrical installation need and consider helping. Follow this link.

February 2016

Rainy Season / Planting time.

KT1'sPlanting 
God has blessed this short rainy season with abundant rain. It has continued to rain right into the shorter dry season which has allowed us to continue clearing fields and more planting. Our primary goal is for planting season is restorative crops.  Crops we are using are Pigeon pea, Macuan bean, Jack beans and some lab-lab beans. These are good nitrogen fixers as well as biomass producers.  (See the map below for Main Farm land location.)

Intern Duplex

 
We are going up on the first Inter Duplex.  This duplex will first be lived in by the CEO and his family.  After further property developments on the KT Farm land, this house will be divided into a duplex and will house interns for the internship program. (See the map below for Intern Duplex location.)

Well & Water on the Farm Property

Service Road blockage  KT 1st Well 
We are having some access complications to our farm site. The location the village council showed us and allowed us to put in a road to our site happens to go through a parcel of land belonging to a elderly man in the village. This man has been bothered with us driving on his property. We, of coarse, had know idea. But one day we discovered lots of plants planted right down the middle of the road. So we are trying to work things out. The issues is really for the village council to sort this out, as we only did what we were told to do. But since the older men don’t hold much value in the younger village council, matters like this can take a while to sort out. So while we have prepared the second well site, we can not bring a large truck on to the property at the moment.(See map below for well locations and service road.)

Seed Bank & Warehouse

Seed Bank Hole Done
It’s been a few months now, since we completed the excavation (by hand) for our under ground seed bank and ground level warehouse on top.  However, this project is on hold due to funding and shortness of staff. (See map below for seed bank location.)

Beekeeping

BeeHives 
As we get ready for bee swarming season, we are working with local carpenters to have more top bar beehive boxes made.  Amina, our Market Development Coordinator has been working with local bee keepers who use log hives.  We hope to share knowledge with one another for better beekeeping in the area.  Honey is a valuable crop and when you put the hives in your garden you can increase yields significantly on many selected crops. KT will start beekeeping around May this year, assume we can catch some queens.

New Staff Housing and storage construction

  Staff&Storeroom 
Out Staff & Storage building is complete and being lived in now.  This building is in full use.  This past month we added the big awning over the back side to use as a work area.  After other developments are complete, this storage room will eventually become a Farm Supply store.  This will help local farmers have access to much needed supplies as well as providing an income for KT in the future.  In the mean time this is sort of an all purpose building. (See map below for Staff Housing and storeroom location.)

Demonstration Plot

 

The demonstration plot is now in full service.  The fence keeps the goats and cows out.  Mulching keeps the moisture in. This plot is ideally located half way between the village (North to South) and on the main path headed up the hill to the west where every one in the village has farm land, including KT.  This location will be very visible to all residents of Mchinga Mbili village.  However, before KT owned this property, there was a major village path right on top of it.  The path has now moved to the side, which is great, but it will take a season or two for the soil structure heal and nutrient levels to come back.   We will have more demonstrations on our main farm land up the hill to the west, but this plot we hope will catch everyone’s eye initially.

January 2016

Rainy Season / Planting time.

KT 1'st planting 
We have prepared quite a few acres for planing.  Our goal in this first planting season is restorative crops.  We have already planted Pidgin pea, which will provide a good tap root in the ground to break up hard pan layers and fix nitrogen.  These same roots next year will rot and provide a significant increase in saturation of the soil and moisture retention.  We are also working on planting Macuan bean, Jack bean and lab-lab bean as well.  These are good nitrogen fixers as well as biomass producers.  (See the map below for Main Farm land location.)

Intern Duplex

 
We are going up on the first Inter Duplex.  This duplex will first be lived in by the CEO and his family.  After further property developments on the KT Farm land, this house will be divided into a duplex and will house interns for the internship program. (See the map below for Intern Duplex location.)

Well & Water on the Farm Property

KT Well  KT 1st Well 
The first well has been completed.  Unfortunately we did not hit as much water as the hydrology survey report had seemed to indicate.  We have now cleared a road and the drilling site for a second surveyed well location.  Soon we will call the drillers to come and drill this second well.  It is our hope and prayer that between the two wells we will have enough water to fulled develop our water system including the permanent properties yet to be built on the farm land, as well as drip irrigation and to share with the village residents, both on the hill where water is not available and in the valley where only brackish water is available. (See map below for well locations.)

Seed Bank & Warehouse

Seed Bank Hole Done
We have completed the excavation (by hand) for our under ground seed bank.  By building the seed bank underground we can keep valuable seeds at a moderately cool temperature without the need of refrigeration.  It is our goal to make high quality seed available for our own farming as well as local farmers.  On top of the seed bank we will build a small warehouse to store cooperative harvests.  (See map below for seed bank location.)

Agribusiness Research & Surveys

KT’s Market Research Coordinator continues to research possible markets for KT.  We are researching what things we can do that will not only generate income for KT, but also help the lives of the local villagers.  In addition we have been researching local (Tanzanian) sources of the different crops we hope to start with.

Beekeeping

 
We have started to gather beekeeping items.  Honey  is a valuable crop and when you put the hives in your garden you can increase yields significantly on many selected crops. KT will start beekeeping around May this year.

New Staff Housing and storage construction

   
We are working on the finishing touches of our Storage & Staff Housing building.  This building it already in 80% use and has been a huge help to our other developments.  Due to the urgency of this need, we used a wire mesh/ferrous cement construction.  However, the end result is a strong permanent building at very reasonable cost.  The Staff unit has three bedrooms.  After other developments are complete, this storage room will eventually become a Farm Supply store.  This will help local farmers have access to much needed supplies as well as providing an income for KT in the future. (See map below for Staff Housing and storeroom location.)

Demonstration Plot

 Demo Plot 02

The demonstration plot is now in full service.  The fence keeps the goats and cows out.  Mulching keeps the moisture in. This plot is ideally located half way between the village (North to South) and on the main path headed up the hill to the west where every one in the village has farm land, including KT.  This location will be very visible to all residents of Mchinga Mbili village.  We will have more demonstrations on our main farm land up the hill to the west, but this plot we hope will catch everyone’s eye initially.