How could someone like me, who hadn’t traveled outside the country until he was 60 years old, knew nothing about agriculture, and was probably one of the pickiest eaters around, end up traveling to Uganda close to 40 times and counting? That’s a great question.
You are my friends, so I’m going to tell you the good and the bad, including some of my own mistakes along the way. Those mistakes taught us a lot and helped shape Field of Hope into something much different—and, I believe, much more sustainable—than what we originally envisioned.
It really started with a great friend of ours, Brandy Young. Cathy and I met Brandy when we lived in Bettendorf, Iowa. She worked for John Deere for a time and eventually decided to leave Deere and pursue vocational ministry. That eventually took her to Uganda, where she saw firsthand the devastation in the northern part of the country.
Northern Uganda was just coming out of roughly 20 years of civil war. Many families had spent much of that time living in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, separated from their homes, their land, and the farming that had supported their families. Many families had also endured terrible violence and trauma during the war, while crowded camp conditions brought additional struggles with malaria, diarrheal diseases, HIV/AIDS, cholera, malnutrition, and other illnesses.
Brandy was a farm girl. She saw the opportunity agriculture could offer families returning from the camps as they worked to rebuild their lives and become self-sufficient on their own land. Cathy and I wanted to support her, so we jointly decided to form Field of Hope.
Since we were John Deere people, our thought was that if we could supply tractors, plows, and improved seeds, we could help farmers make that leap. For farmers who had been displaced into camps and had no resources, it simply wasn’t realistic for them to cultivate dozens of acres of overgrown, neglected land by hand and return it to productivity.
And this is where it gets interesting. We learned that good intentions aren’t always enough, and some lessons just aren’t found in a book. You have to live through them. I promised the good and the bad, so here they are.
The Good
The plan worked. As we had hoped, the tractors provided a bridge between displaced farmers and their land, helping those returning from the camps get their farms back into production. This included plowing overgrown land and providing improved seeds for a couple of growing seasons to help farmers get started again.
Farmers who had previously prepared their land with hand hoes could get considerably more acreage planted on time. That meant the potential for more food for their families and more crops that could be sold for income. It also led to some long-term changes in mindset. Over time, farmers experienced the benefits of plowing and became willing to pay to have that service again.
The Bad
However, the longer we operated the tractors, the more we realized it was much harder than expected. Purchasing and shipping the tractors was reasonably straightforward. Getting them into the field and keeping them operating was much more expensive and complicated.
Because of a lack of trucks and trailers, the tractors often needed to be driven for hours over rough roads just to reach the farms, only to then battle overgrown, difficult fields. This caused physical damage to the tractors and accelerated wear. Finding qualified operators was difficult, and preventive maintenance was very challenging. Parts were often unavailable in-country, and the nearest dealership was one country over. On many of our trips to Uganda, we carried basic maintenance parts, such as fan belts and filters, in our suitcases to keep the tractors running.
The Outcome
Was it difficult? Absolutely. But we didn’t regret it for one minute. We saw the difference those tractors could make for farmers trying to rebuild their lives after years of war. At this stage, the need was so fundamental. The tractors provided a lifeline for farmers trying to reclaim their land, and we knew the work was worth doing, so we kept working through the problems.
As farmers in northern Uganda began to find their footing again, the immediate need for this type of relief work lessened. Rather than continue investing Field of Hope’s resources in tractors to provide commercial plowing services, we began to see that there were other, more efficient and sustainable ways we could use those same resources to help more people.
Even today, when I see people preparing a large field with hand hoes—often women working with very young children on their backs—it is hard for me to watch. I know what mechanization could do to reduce that backbreaking labor.
Which raises the question: Can a commercial plowing operation be successful in Uganda? I believe it can. But our experience taught us that success involves much more than buying a tractor and a plow. It requires a solid business plan, reliable parts and service, trained operators and mechanics, and a laser-like focus on preventive maintenance.
The numbers also need to work. That means accounting for depreciation, maintenance and repairs, tires and unexpected damage, proper land preparation, and perhaps most importantly, keeping that tractor working throughout the year with the right attachments—not just during plowing season.
We’ll talk about Field of Hope’s smarter, more sustainable approach in an upcoming post. But next, I’ll share another one of those early learning experiences.
From the Field
Before the tractors ever went to work, we conducted operator and mechanic training to prepare the team for what was ahead. Willie Van Zyl from Batho Pele in South Africa led much of that training and was one of the best instructors I’ve come across. He spent time in the classroom, around the tractors, and in the field, helping everyone understand the different aspects of tractors and mechanization.
The training attracted plenty of attention. Schoolchildren gathered across the road to watch, and as the sessions continued, our audience kept growing. One particularly enthusiastic observer even found his own way to get a better view.
Once the tractors reached the fields, the interest continued. One video shows a tractor working through a typical field that needed plowing—with quite an audience of children watching everything unfold.
About the author: Mike Hafner is a co-founder of Field of Hope, which he helped establish alongside Cathy Hafner and Brandy Young 15 years ago. Since then, Mike has made more than 30 trips to Uganda, witnessing firsthand the people, partnerships, and experiences that have shaped the organization. Through this series, he shares some of the stories that have stayed with him and the people who continue to remind him why this work matters.
