Yesterday we loaded our third shipment destined to Burkina Faso. We had another wonderful set of Cargill and Reviva volunteers to assist in the loading, and the operation went off without a hitch!! Having the warehouse and forklift along with Josh, Nate and Kevin from Reviva was massive for us. It Read more…
We’ve been busy the last 3 months renovating a 14′ John Deere disk. The disk was generously donated to us by Noreen Kleinfehn-Wald and her family. The below photo is Terry, Noreen and Moussa. We had some work done by the John Deere dealer in Alexandria, MN, then we transported Read more…
Over the past several months, we have been working with Josh Stahl, Nate Williams and Kevin Viaene of Reviva Inc. Reviva remanufactures diesel and gas engines. See these links for information about Reviva info and Reviva video. Josh Stahl is president of Reviva and wanted to assist Tractors For Africa. The partnership with Reviva Read more…
Our second tractor had an excellent season in Burkina Faso in 2017. This shipment arrived approx one month earlier than our first shipment in 2016. This enabled a full season of soil preparation and planting. Justin did a wonderful job, scheduling and working 250 acres of land with both tractors, this Read more…
After another long journey Tractor number 2 arrived. For this shipment we routed through Ghana, which caused different issues for as the container was transported overland through Ghana to Burkina Faso. We used a colleague at Cargill, Michael Amoako, who is from Ghana but lives in Minneapolis now, to help Read more…
A couple of eventful months have passed since our last update, and Tractors for Africa has made major progress during that time. A few of the highlights include: Refurbishing our second tractor Procuring implements, tools and fertilizer to accompany the tractor Hosting another successful send-off fundraiser for the tractor Shipping Read more…
With over 40 acres tilled, 20 families helped, and an experimental yield plot showing a 190% increase in yield (plowing vs hand tillage), we consider 2016 a success. However, we went into it knowing that we would learn along the way, and learn we did. We used what we learned Read more…
We had a lot to learn before our first shipment in 2016, but in the end, it was a huge success. We learned how to pilot our shipment through customs, tilled 43 acres of land, coordinated the logistics of scheduling tillage and travelling between fields, and discovered which types of Read more…
One perk of leaving Burkina Faso is that one feels like the President of the United States. Ouagadougou’s airport does not have traditional gates, so everyone has the chance to climb the steps to the plane and wave at the adoring crowds and press. On June 20th, Louis Ricard and Read more…
With the growing season well underway, farmers are no longer tilling their fields for planting. Farmers have moved on to weed removal (using hoes) and insecticide application (using hand-operated backpack sprayers). This means that most tractors are sitting idle for the rest of the year. However, our tractor is not Read more…