Grow your own
I hadn't heard the expression "food security" before visiting Home of Hope. Nothing to do with comfort-eating, by the way. It's the mindset you need when you've got 700 mouths to feed in a country where hunger stalks most families for months of the year at a time. The period before harvest, when village grain stores sit long empty - it's called the Hungry Season. So when we visit the Home's farm land, bumping along in the much loved blue farm truck, it's not the mesmerising views of misted wooded hills sprouting from the plain we're here to see - achingly beautiful though they are. At this time of year we've learned to appreciate the beauty of land made ready to plant for maize in October, and the significance of irrigated out-of season beans. Workers will plant well-spaced maize seeds, dress with carefully aimed fertiliser (there’s a serious move in the country towards soil-improvement using animal manure: we’ll get there) - then, just add wat...