Summit triumph for NFU and the Africa 100 Kilimanjaro challenge team

05 October 2012

Early news back from the summit of Kilimanjaro reports that the Africa 100 team has conquered the world’s tallest free-standing mountain.

After a gruelling six-day trek, the first communication back since the group left Gilman’s Point around 300m from the summit, is that the team reached the peak at around 9am today.

The climbers, who started their climb in Tanzania on September 29, have put themselves through the punishing schedule to raise funds for the NFU’s Africa 100 Appeal for Farm Africa, the UK charity which tackles hunger not through food aid, but with agricultural innovation and business enterprise.

NFU senior media adviser Sharon Hockley, who has supported the team for the NFU, said while difficult communication from the mountain meant everyone awaited details of the final ascent, early news that the climbers had reached the summit was fantastic to hear.

“The climbers set out from the Kibo Base Camp last night for the final push to the summit, climbing 1,200 metres in dark, freezing conditions and oxygen-thin air. I can’t imagine how they are feeling and I can’t wait to talk to them. It will have been the most amazing feat to have conquered Kilimanjaro and makes their fund-raising efforts all the more worthwhile.”

Farm Africa has received a huge boost thanks to several important businesses that have made substantial donations to the Africa 100 Appeal. These companies include Gold sponsors: Massey Ferguson, BASF and Agrii, and Silver sponsors: The European Crop Protection Association, Morrisons and Syngenta.

Responding to the news at Farm Africa, the charity’s Head of Corporate and Community Fundraising, Cathy Whiteman, said:

“Farm Africa is thrilled with this morning’s news. Getting to the top of Kilimanjaro is hugely demanding so this is an absolutely fantastic effort! Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors and the determination of our NFU climbers, it’s been a great event. All the money raised will help our work supporting African farmers in farming Africa out of hunger. And the good news is that it’s still not too late to make a donation that rewards the team’s hard work and training.”

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/NFUAfrica100

Notes for editors:

For more details please contact: Matt Whitticase: mattheww@farmafrica.org.uk / t: 020 7067 1237

You can follow the team on Twitter as they descend Kilimanjaro, using the hashtag #kilichallenge.

And you can see updates and images from the team since they left the UK via our online blog: http://www.farmafrica.org.uk/get-involved/kilimanjaro-challenge

The Kilimanjaro Challenge is part of the NFU’s Africa 100 Appeal. The appeal is reaching out across the food and farming industry to raise money for Farm Africa. Previous donations raised by the 2008 Appeal amounted to a massive £220,000 and saw the launch of the Cassava Project, reinstating a traditional tuber crop and re-educating farmers and their families about its multiple uses to build food security.

About Farm Africa

Farm Africa works on the principle that ‘farm aid’, not food aid, is the key to banishing famine from a continent which possesses 60% of the world’s uncultivated land. Africa’s millions of smallholders can, with the right support, farm their countries out of famine and help Africa to feed itself.

80% of rural Africans rely on farming for their living, but they often use traditional methods and lack access to soil improvers, drought-tolerant and disease resistant plants, and water. Farm Africa offers fresh ideas and solutions to some of the key problems they face.

Providing tools, training, better seeds, and new technology, Farm Africa specialists work directly with grassroots smallholders, herders, fish farmers and forest dwellers to modernise their methods, boost harvests, and create sustainable income on which greater health and wealth can be built without exploiting Africa’s fragile environment.

For more information about Farm Africa please visit: www.farmafrica.org.uk

For more on the Africa 100 Appeal’s work with the charity to date: http://www.nfuonline.com/About-the-NFU/Africa-100/Farm-Africa/