“I would like a tractor to help with the agricultural project and to help the brothers and sisters plow their fields and “let them pay back in produce,” Fidel said, speaking to Pastor Conrad Vine of AFM.

The Benin government subsidizes tractors so people are able to buy them. Within two months, Pastor Conrad found the money to buy the tractor, wire transferred it to Benin, and set the process in motion to purchase a Case IH tractor and deliver it to the Pendjari project.

What was delivered was so much more than a tractor. Included were a trailer, a seeder, two types of harrowing disks, and a plow scarifier implement. With that, it was a matter of patiently waiting for the annual rains to come.

Finally, the rains arrived, and the work began. The fields here are not smooth like in many other countries. Rather, they are bumpy after years of plowing with a big harrower. Because the fields can be filled with rocks and stumps, another person usually rides with the driver to watch for anything that may damage the tractor.

Church groups often plant up to 20 hectares (about 50 acres) in their church-owned fields. Though they can use the tractor to plant and harvest the crops and pay for its use with a share of the produce, it takes money to buy the fuel. Therefore, church members will plow fields for others to earn money to buy gasoline.
The tractor and implements have become a great addition to the agricultural project and will continue to be a good source of project funding. Thank you.

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