Our Fonthill Lions Agriculture Night Guest Speaker, Aaron Breimer is part of a humanitarian mission that helps farmers in Zambia improve their community through agriculture.
As an agronomist with Veritas Farm Management Services, a farm business consulting company, Aaron Breimer works with Ontario Farmers to implement the latest in agricultural techniques and practices. He never imagined being involved with a project in which farmers plant their seed by hand. That changed in 2012 when he lead a farm aid mission to Zambia helping subsistence farmer in Zambia to dramaticallly increase their corn yields.
Vertias’ parent company, South West Ag Partners is based in Southwestern Ontario and teamed up with students at Lambton College to participate in the ‘One Seed Project’ . The project educates Zambian farmers and furnishes them with a micro loan of $500 to help with the purchase of seed, fertilizer, spray and tools. The dramatically increased yields help the farmers to repay the loans and pay for seed and fertilizer for the next growing season.
The mission was coordinated via Enactus, an international students’ organization that has a chapter at Lambton College. Enactus works in collaboration with academic and business leaders and is committed to using the power of entrepreneurial action to transform lives and shape a better more sustainable world through various projects in 39 counties around the world.
According to an excerpt from a Feb. 7, 2017 article in Today’s Farmer: “The impact of the work has been amazing. The acrage planted under the project has grown from a mere 1/2 acre in 2012 to 20,000 acres last year. It means 50,000 people no longer live in poverty. You really do leave your heart in Africa when you do something like this.”
Come join us at our 72nd Annual Agriculture Night to hear Aaron recount the story of this incredibly impactful Ontario farming initiative!
For Tickets call 289-214-2616 fonthilllions@gmail.com or any Fonthill Lion by April 8th