Agricultural Program 
Top Soil Improvement
As a component of its agriculture program, the IDEA Foundation proposes to establish near Okahandja a facility which will begin to produce potting soil and compost for sale in the central region of the country. The facility will provide initial employment for approximately ten local workers, expanding to as many as fifty workers as the project develops.
Arrangements have been made with city government and local businesses for yard debris to be delivered to the site for chipping, and with farmers to provide manure from poultry farms, feedlots and stables. Chipping and mixing will take place at the site and the top soil and compost will be bagged and distributed throughout the country.
Experienced IDEA volunteers from the US have agreed to oversee the project and to train Namibians in all aspects of the operation. The project can be completed in six to nine months.
The IDEA Foundation has the opportunity to purchase a thriving 13-acre vegetable farm in rural Namibia to use as a training facility for young men and women who wish to pursue farming and agribusiness as a career. An additional 500 acres have been offered to the project at no cost by a local organization via a 99-year lease.
The Foundation has worked with Namibian schools to introduce vocational agricultural programs but has great need to add practical experience to supplement the classroom activities. The model farm will answer that need, and students will learn and practice farming fundamentals -- planting, raising and harvesting crops.
In addition, students will learn small business principles in locating markets, in actual selling, establishing and extending a customer base, keeping and managing financial records, tracking the cost of doing business, cash flow, profit margins, etc.
Students will gain skills that are marketable, that can be utilized in working for other farms or for establishing future farms -- skills that are essential in all lines of work. Crop sales will provide immediate revenue which can be utilized by the public schools themselves, enhancing educational opportunities for all students. Food sources will be increased as more graduates skilled in agribusiness apply those skills to new farms. This can play a significant role in alleviating the devastation of periodic famines and from the food shortages which have come as a result of the collapse of the agricultural economy of neighboring Zimbabwe.
Over the period of the project, IDEA will establish a Namibian Entrepreneurial Education Foundation and provide training in operations and management of a non-profit organization, transferring to it management of the activities and businesses developed by the project. Utilizing profits from the model farm, this Foundation will establish a community-based scholarship fund to provide financial assistance to needy students wishing to further their education.
IDEA Foundation volunteers from the US will spend one or more months on the farm helping trainees in farming, reading, business, math, and other subjects. Volunteers will also help renovate existing buildings on the farm for use as hostels for youngsters orphaned by the AIDS pandemic.