Yambasu Agriculture Initiative News & Stories

Since 2020, the Yambasu Agriculture Initiative has awarded 22 grants to 19 United Methodist annual conferences as they develop self-sustaining agriculture ministries.

Four farms in Zimbabwe saw bumper harvests after receiving support from Global Ministries’ Yambasu Agriculture Initiative.

Reinvestment, a key component and goal in Yambasu Agriculture Initiative projects, is yielding fruits leading to growth and expansion across Africa.

Global Ministries Board of Directors approved an allocation of $5 million for the Yambasu Agriculture Initiative to provide grants to various African annual conferences throughout 2023.

Yambasu Agriculture Initiative farmers who recently trained with the YAI program in Porto Novo, Benin, realize tremendous change and results in their farming skills upon returning home.

Where once the land was wild and idol, 75 acres of land owned by the Mozambique United Methodist Church have been put into production and now yield fruits in their harvest seasons.

With a grant from Global Ministries’ Yambasu Agriculture Initiative, the Côte d'Ivoire Annual Conference has constructed fishponds to produce tilapia and built a savings and loan program for women.

A team of 27 Yambasu Agriculture Initiative (YAI) trainees attending the Songhai Center in Benin visited two farms of Songhai graduates who have gone into farming entrepreneurship after receiving training.

Twenty-seven farm and technical operatives of the Bishop John K. Yambasu Agricultural Initiative (YAI) from Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria and Zimbabwe are learning agricultural entrepreneurship skills at a two-week training at Songhai Center – a research, teaching and production center in sustainable farming in Port Novo, Benin.  

More than 150 acres of rice farms were recently cultivated in Sierra Leone and the purchase of machinery will ease and speed harvesting in the future.

Global Ministries board of directors approves $1.34 million for new agriculture projects in African episcopal areas to enhance food security, livelihoods and financial sustainability.

An agriculture initiative for Africa launched by Global Ministries two years ago has been renamed in memory of the late Bishop John K. Yambasu of Sierra Leone.