Butterflies in my Tummy
Butterflies in My Tummy
I spoke to Mabvuto this morning. He told me that the rains have begun in Malawi which means he and two ladies have begun to plant the maize. Once the seeds start to germinate fertilizer will need to be applied to the field. He estimates that we will need 8 bags of fertilizer which cost about K10 500 ($90) each. I’m getting nervous about these costs.
I budgeted $200 a month for operating costs. I knew the annual cost of beans and maize would exceed this budget. We estimated this cost to be about $42 a month and we bought a year’s supply when the cost was lowest. The beans and maize we have now will last until the spring and it is our hope that the harvest will yield enough maize for two years. We are unsure of the quantity of beans that will be harvested in the spring.
The purchase of land cost me $1400. The fertilizer will cost $720 and there will be the cost of paying people to weed and harvest. I suspect the labour costs will not be too high. Hoes were purchased for $16. Tilling cost $75 and seeds cost $150. Mabvuto has decided to pay the ladies $1.70 a day to help him. I’ve advised him to pay himself that same amount as I’m sure he’s doing some of the work. So far the cost of buying land and planting maize totals a little more than $2400. I am now wondering if purchasing land was a wise choice.
At the time, it seemed as if it was a wise investment and would eventually save me money. It seems that even without the expense of the land purchase we will be spending more to plant and harvest our own beans and maize than we would to purchase it from local sellers. One reason for deciding to grow our own food was the continued rising cost of food in Malawi. We both believed that we could control the cost better if we grew the produce ourselves. Simply put, the purchase of beans and maize at this time totals about $500 a year. The cost of buying fertilizer and seeds is about $1030. I suppose we were hoping that the crops would yield enough food for 2 years. Since neither of us is a farmer and we don’t know how much rain will come we have no idea if there will be enough maize for 2 years. Mabvuto did not indicate that there’d be enough beans for 1 year let alone 2 years.
Oh my, can I really do this? I’m getting scared.
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