Growing Nations
Transformation through Sustainable Agriculture
Transformation through sustainable agriculture

Partnerships

Growing Nations works closely with and is supported by many organisations across the world.

Details of these organisations and how they partner with us can be found below:

Lesotho Evangelical Church in Southen Africa  logo - LECSAKereke ea Evangeli Lesotho (KEL) or Lesotho Evangelical Church in Southern Africa (LECSA).  Growing Nations is a project of the Lesotho Evangelical Church in Southern Africa (LECSA).  The church has supported Rev. August Basson in the development of the Growing Nations Conservation Agriculture project.  August was responsible for the LECSA church in Tebellong between 1993 & 2008 and started teaching Conservation Agriculture to his parishioners there in 2002.  In 2008 the LECSA recognised the importance of the agricultural work being carried out by August and asked him to relocate to Maphutseng, near Mohale's Hoek to develop the work further as Growing Nations.  The land and buildings are owned by the LECSA but are leased to Growing Nations and Growing Nations have been involved in the training of LECSA Pastors across Lesotho. 

The Growing Nations Youth & Community Project is also funded by monies donated from the Tabernacle Church in Cardiff, Wales through the LECSA.

Africa Inland Mission LogoAfrica Inland Mission (AIM) are the sending missionary organisation that August Basson, the founder of Growing Nations & his wife, Anita Basson, came to Lesotho to serve with in 1993.  August was a pastor in the village of Tebellong in Qacha's Nek district until 2008 when the family moved to Maphutseng at the request of the LECSA to help them set up & develop Growing Nations. 

August left Lesotho in 2015 to take up a new role with AIM focussing on mobilising African's to mission & is now based in South Africa but he continues to actively support the work of Growing Nations as a consultant and as a trustee.

AIM are supporters of the Growing Nations Project and Barry & Heather Mann, current Growing Nations volunteers and trustees, are also currently serving with them in Lesotho.  In addition, many other long & short term AIM missionaries come to Growing Nations to learn about Farming God's Way before serving & training in countries across Africa.

AIM also support Growing Nations through the provision of short term volunteers who have specific skills and expertise which can be passed on to the Growing Nations team.

Australian AID logo

The Australian Government Direct Aid Program

The Growing Nations Student  & Young Farmer Program, which incorporates the Resident Student Program, has been supported by funding received from the Australian Government through the Pretoria Direct Aid Program since March 2020.

Farming God's Way logoFarming God's Way

August Basson is part of the Farming God's Way stewardship team, working with Grant Drydon, Carl Schmidt & Wilhelem Els to help increase food security and reduce soil erosion across Africa. The Farming God's Way materials have all been translated into Sesotho for use by trainers and farmers.

The Farming God's Way training principles & materials are incorporated into the teaching that Growing Nations provide to farmers & students.

 

National Conservation Agriculture Task Force (NCATF)

Growing Nations is a member of the National CA Task Force in Lesotho, a group made up of NGO's & Government Departments who are passionate about CA farming methods & seeing food security for all in Leostho.

 

UN Food & Agriculture Organization logoUnited Nations - Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations previously funded Growing Nations work in Tebellong and have been working with them to increase the awareness of Conservation Agriculture and building a network of partners.  They, along with Growing Nations and others are members of the National CA Task Force (NCATF) in Lesotho.

William Carey Christian School logoWilliam Carey Christian School, Sydney, Australia (WCCS)

William Carey Christian School in Australia has been supporting the work of Growing Nations through the sponsorship of youth work with local school children which happens in the form of regular bible studies & annual bible camps.  The school sponsors the salary of Joshua, who is responsible for the youth work & running the Growing Nations Resident Student Program.

 

NGK logoStellenbosch Dutch Reformed Church

Stellenbosch DRC are August and Anita Basson's sending church and provide personal funding for them as a family and support for the Growing Nations project in many practical ways.

 

Winchester Baptist Church logoWinchester Baptist Church, UK

The Basson & Mann families are supported by Winchester Baptist Church (WBC) in the UK.  WBC provide support to them personally & to Growing Nations on many levels, financially, spiritually and practically. The Church has organised several visits to Lesotho to help with various projects, and provided the capital for the building of a new home for the Basson's in Maphutseng in 2008.  Since their departure in 2015 this building is now being used as a training centre.

WBC is also the home church of Barry & Heather Mann who are currently serving with Africa Inland Mission and Growing Nations in Lesotho.

Morija Museum & Archives logoLesotho Museum & Archives, Morija.  Stephen Gill, curator of the LECSA Museums Department in Morija has been assisting Growing Nations with the sympathetic restoration of the historic buildings at Maphutseng which include some of the oldest missionary buildings in Lesotho.

 

 

 

Barry Mann Photography

Barry Mann Photography has been supporting the work of August and Anita Basson and Growing Nations since 2005. Regular visits to Lesotho have been made to provide a pictoral record of the Conservation Agriculture work and more recently the development at Maphutseng, with images being used in articles about the project, in agricultural training material and on the website.

Wales

 

 

Other Supporting Organisations:

Umhlanga Church, KZN, SA

Welgemoud Dutch Reformed Church, Cape Town, SA

Grabouw Dutch Reformed Church, Grabouw, SA

Princetown Dutch Reformed Church, Princetown, SA

Margate Baptist Church, KZN, SA

 

Organisations we have worked with historically:

MCC Mennonite Central Committee logoMennonite Central Committee (MCC)

Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) have worked closely in partnership with Growing Nations, from 2012, collaborating to source funding and personnel for the project. We developed a good working relationship working towards a common goal of helping to transform communities through sustainable agriculture, not only looking at solutions to poverty and food insecurity but also helping to build the capacity of the Growing Nations team .

MCC have also provided several short termers to work with Growing Nations as part of their SALT exchange program and several Growing Nations team members, past & present, have also spent a year in Canada/USA as part of the MCC IVEP (International Volunteer Exchange Program).

The MCC funding of Growing Nations work unfortunately ceased as a result of MCC closing their EswaLeSa (eSwatini, Lesotho & South Africa) region in 2020.

CFGB Canadian Food Grains Bank logoCanadian Food Grains Bank (CFGB)

The Canadian Food Grains Bank (CFGB) worked with Growing Nations to provide funding for the Resident Student Program and the Agricultural Extension Program (2012-2019).  Through the course of these projects the lives of many farmers have been transformed & their food security increased.  

 

National University of Lesotho logoNational University of Lesotho (NUL)

The National University of Lesotho have worked closely with Growing Nations, carrying out research and field trials at Maphutseng with Growing Nations providing the labour and fields.

 

UN International Fund for Agricultural Development logoUnited Nations - International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

The United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development have historically provided financial support for the agricultural training program at Maphutseng between July 2009 & July 2011.  This funding stopped due to changes in the way that IFAD provided funding to Lesotho in 2011.

 

UN World Food Program logoUnited Nations - World Food Programme (WFP)

The World Food Programme share the heartache of hungry people across the world and have been working closely with Growing Nations to identify ways of solving the problem in Lesotho. When based at Tebellong, Growing Nations supplied WFP with surplus maize grown by Conservation Agriculture farmers in Tebellong and Maphutseng. In 2008 this amounted to 30 tonnes of maize which was used to provide school meals to children as part of the UN's emergency food aid in Lesotho.

University of Tennessee logoUniversity of Tennessee, USA

Drs. Neal Eash and Forbes Walker, soil scientists from the University of Tennessee are passionate about Growing Nations work in Lesotho. They worked with Growing Nations between 2007 & 2013, carrying out research at Growing Nations Demonstration Farm in Maphutseng and prior to that in Tebellong.  They have also provided fundamental agronomic support to Growing Nations including fertilizer rate and yield studies in maize, cover crop species selection, weed management, and carbon sequestration monitoring to determine rates of carbon loss/gain to soils managed under conservation agriculture.