Rev. August Basson

August Basson and his wife Anita moved to the remote village of Tebellong in Southern Lesotho as Missionaries with Africa Inland Mission (AIM) in 1993. After many years of pastoring the local Kereke ea Evangeli Lesotho (KEL,) or Lesotho Evangelical Church,  church there August felt that he wasn't making a difference and began to question whether they were in the right place. He started to realise that he couldn't get through to a congregation who came to church every Sunday hungry but had no idea what to do about it as one poor harvest followed another and the soil in the fields was visibly being washed away by erosion.

After learning about Conservation Agriculture and subsequently being introduced to Brian Oldrieve, the founder of Farming God's Way, August trialled some of their Conservation Agriculture methods in Tebellong and was amazed at the results. Initially many people thought he was crazy but the success of his crops was plain for everyone to see. August began to teach his congregation about Farming God's Way.

The work started with the congregation and local farmers in Tebellong but it wasn't long before the word spread and August and a team of trainers began teaching others over a much wider area in Lesotho.

In 2008 the KEL asked August and his family to move away from Tebellong to Maphutseng, near Mohale's Hoek in order to concentrate on the Conservation Agriculture training.  As a result Growing Nations was created and started to develop the Maphutseng site into a demonstration and agriculture training facility where pastors and farmers could come and learn more about Conservation Agriculture.

Growing Nations started farming at Maphutseng in 2008 and the family moved to Bethesda Mission, Maphutseng in 2009.  Initially they lived in the old Mission House whilst the training facility was built.  They lived in these facilities for a while before their house was completed later that year.

August runs Growing Nations with the team and is often busy travelling all over Africa delivering training to others.  He is also the current AIM (Africa Inland Mission) Unit Leader in Lesotho.

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