Newsletter

Autumn 2003

Tropical Agriculture & Missions
By David Unander

As part of its philosophy of teaching good stewardship of God’s Creation in line with the Bible, Au Sable is committed to holistic Christian ministry. We help equip Christian ministries and development practitioners with the technical skills they need to create beneficial enterprises where there is poverty and suffering. To this end, ‘Tropical Agriculture and Missions,’ the first-ever Au Sable - Everglades course, was taught during Summer Session I.

To better equip students interested in serving the peoples of the Tropics, ‘Tropical Agricultural and Missions’ surveyed crops and appropriate techniques in tropical agriculture. The course was taught by Dave Unander, Associate Professor of Biology and Director of the Environmental Studies Program at Eastern University.

The course was offered in collaboration with ECHO, the Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization, a Christian organization that provides agricultural training, extension and seeds to missionaries and development workers throughout the world. ‘Tropical Agriculture and Missions’ was offered at their 50-acre experiment station in Ft. Myers, FL. ECHO has designed their station to recreate as many distinct tropical ecosystems as is practical in south Florida. Diverse tropical crops, forages and fruit trees fill most of the land.

This setting enabled hands-on labs in tropical fruit pruning, grafting, erosion control, agroforestry, basic animal husbandry, and other practical areas. ECHO staff participated in the teaching, enabling us to draw on many types of experience and training. For example, techniques in tropical mushroom culture and marketing were taught by Don Cobb, a missionary at ECHO on loan from the United Methodist Church.

To discern what makes an agriculture system sustainable, one should understand the natural system as well as possible. Integrative sessions thus involved visits to natural ecosystems of south Florida. These included one of the last old-growth cypress swamps in Florida, where the class saw alligators from the boardwalk, and a kayak trip at sunset to mangrove swamp islands that serve as rookeries for thousands of shorebirds every night.

Visits to development organizations were also included. Mike Mueller of Hope Seeds (see photo on left) discussed the upscaling of seed production and practical issues in on-farm research. Harvest for Humanity, a consortium of Christians aiding migrant farm workers and other poor people in rural Immokalee, gave us an orientation to their agricultural projects and Jubilee Homes, a concept of affordable housing designed as a comprehensive community.

In-class discussions introduced important issues in relief and development, and some of the “classic” literature in the development field, such as Roland Bunch’s Two Ears of Corn. Martin Price, Executive Director of ECHO, spent an afternoon with the students discussing the discerning of God’s will in a profession, using his own story as one illustration.

Students from six Christian colleges and universities attended. Several had spent extended time outside the United States, and one was a foreign student (but not from the humid tropics, so the climate of southern Florida was new to her). Au Sable students stayed on the station with ECHO interns and some missionaries in training from the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, and enjoyed each other’s cooking. Meals included tropical crops and fruits freshly harvested from the station.

These students will be part of a new generation of leaders with the skills and knowledge to address the problems of poverty, hunger, and environmental degradation in the Tropics. For those already moving in the direction of ministry or development work in poorer countries, the course was especially valuable. But the course also had applications much closer to home: two students took home many new ideas for their urban gardening projects in Chicago and Camden, New Jersey.