MissionsFoods Resource Bank

FRB Mission

The Foods Resource Bank (FRB) is based on the following ideas:

  • Most people who are food insecure are chronically so.
  • People have the capability to be food secure if given modest assistance with resources, training and organization.
  • U.S. farmers and communities have the desire and the ability to support small holder farmers overseas.

FRB’s mission is to alleviate world hunger by globally connecting local communities through agriculture. FRB empowers people to support food security by combining funding and awareness. FRB is creating a global community of people connected through agriculture.

FRB Promotes:

  • Agriculture - Although farmers make up only 1% of the population in the US, 70% of the population in the developing world is rural; therefore agriculture plays a key role on the path to food security.
  • Sustainability - This word means more than the idea that teaching people to fish is better than giving them a fish to eat. Sustainable food security also means that people have the knowledge, technology, and access to the fish necessary for successful fishing.
  • Community - FRB provides an intersection for local, international, rural, urban, government, advocacy, farmer and non-farmer groups to work together within many communities on solving world hunger.
  • Grassroots – FRB works to improve the lives of small holder farmers and landless individuals in the developing world by raising support primarily from individuals and family farms in the developed world.
  • Awareness – FRB brings visitors from our overseas programs to the US to tell their story and often takes visitors, US farmers and individuals to Washington DC to influence policy toward sustainability and food security.

How we do it:

  1. A Growing Project (GP) is created. A growing project begins with a group of people who want to make a difference. FRB representatives help them get organized. Usually farmers, church members, and community members make up the bulk of a GP, but the membership spans urban, rural, farmer and non-farmer. Once formed, the GP gets organized to grow something.
  2. The GP raises a crop. In most cases the GP’s raise a crop such as soy beans or corn, but many raise livestock, garden produce, or auction quilts, cakes or even hold garage sales. Each GP is unique in the way that they raise money and their activities are often a combination of different things. Most of the tools, materials, seeds, land, and labor is donated by GP members.
  3. The GP gives funds from the crop to an overseas program. Each year the funds raised from the GP are designated to one of FRB’s overseas programs. This decision is entirely up to the GP. Many GP’s hold Harvest Celebrations at the end of each growing season to celebrate. Last year FRB celebrated raising of over $2.3 million by over 200 GPs.
  4. Funds are used by overseas program toward increasing food security. FRB delivers the funds to the 62 overseas programs which are run on the ground by FRB’s 15 member organizations and their local partners. These organizations invest the funds in training, technology, seeds, livestock and other areas of food production.
  5. FRB cultivates new GP’s, raises awareness, and develops relationships. You don’t have to be a part of a GP to participate or give to FRB. FRB works to bring everyone’s voice to the discussion on hunger. We do this by creating relationships with other organizations and by traveling to Washington D.C. to meet with congress people and government agencies

Barrington United Methodist Church’s Growing Projects

BUMC partners with Trinity Lutheran Church, Ottawa IL in sponsoring growing projects.  10-12 farmers in the Ottawa, IL donate land for sponsorship in the program depending on the funds raised to cover the costs of growing their particular crop.  The proceeds from selling of the crop are given directly to the project.

2003-2006 Malawi – Chingale

The Chingale Recovery and Mitigation Program promoted self-reliance through intensification of development services such as food security, child survival and psychosocial programs. In food security the areas of focus include extension services, crop production, crop diversification, small scale irrigation, land resource management, livestock restocking and trainings. In child survival the areas are environmental health education, HIV/AIDS trainings. The coverage in psychosocial includes: Community Based Child Care (CBCC) Adult Literacy, Recreation, child protection and women participation.

The operational areas (communities) are Chingale in T/A Mlumbe, Zomba District and in Neno District, T/A Mlauli, Southern Region of Malawi. The communities are the same as in previous projects but the individual beneficiaries are different for every project implemented. The Chingale area has a population of 189,000 people with 93 Village Headmen. While in Neno, the population is 19,600 with 46 Village Headmen

2007-2011 Democratic Republic of Congo – Micro Devru

MicroDevru is a multi-year Food Security project targeting three areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The implementing organizations are ACDI (Community Action for Integrated Development) for the Baptist Church of Congo, BTEDE (Technical Office to Support Indigenous Development) for the Mennonite Church of Congo and PRODEK (Development Program for East Kasai) for the Presbyterian Church of Congo).

MicroDevru addresses key short-term and long-term constraints to food security by distributing high-yielding disease-resistant seed and providing training and supervision of agricultural production. Each of the implementing organizations works with producer organizations whose members and leadership are gender balanced and representative of their communities. This plan reflects a 30% cut in funding over prior years due to the decreased availability of funds. MicroDevru pays no salaries; rather activities are funded on a contract basis by the implementing organizations.

The Micro Devru Project is designed to assist 4,600 households in the Micro Devru community of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  This project has four interventions:

  • Distribution of disease-resistant, high yielding cassava planting material and training in best production practices.
  • Distribution of enhanced, high yielding, dwarf  palm trees and training in best production practices.
  • Distribution of high yielding cowpea and peanut seed and training in best production practices.
  • Distribution of vegetable seed and essential tools and training in best production practices.

For more information on these growing projects please go to www.foodsresourcebank.org

This page last updated on December 28, 2011