News

17 February 2023

Team NFU to take on London Marathon for Farm Africa this April

Photo credit: Lawrence Looi

Farm Africa is delighted that Team NFU will be running to support farmers across eastern Africa at this year’s TCS London Marathon on 23 April 2023.

It is wonderful to welcome NFU President, Minette Batters, and NFU Regional Director of the North East, Adam Bedford, back to Team Farm Africa. Both have taken on the iconic race for Farm Africa before and are long-time supporters of the organisation, Minette is an ambassador for Farm Africa and Adam has visited our work in Tanzania and Kenya.

This year will be particularly exciting as David Exwood, Vice President of the NFU, his son, Frederic, and David Fouracre, Lead Spatial Analyst at DEFRA, have all joined the team to make it a bumper year for NFU support.

The team is raising funds for farming families across eastern Africa and have a fundraising target of £10,000 to hit. You can sponsor the team by making a donation on their fundraising page: www.farmafrica.org/nfu.

Here’s how your sponsorship could help:

£5 could help to buy 10kg of forage seeds, so that farmers can grow food for their livestock.

£11 could provide training to one woman in high-quality coffee production in Uganda.

£16 could help to pay for a farmer to hire help to bring in his harvest.

£22 could help to establish a forest product enterprise.

£60 is enough to buy two local female goats for pastoralist women in Ethiopia.

£100 could help to provide two farmers with the means to start a beekeeping business, including a hive, beekeeping equipment and a bee colony.

Farm Africa CEO, Dan Collison said, “Thank you so much to the NFU team for taking on the TCS London Marathon for Farm Africa this year. Farmers all over the world face many of the same challenges and it’s fantastic to see the UK farming community uniting to support farmers in other regions. The funds raised will enable Farm Africa to equip farmers in eastern Africa with the knowledge and tools they needs to build sustainable farming businesses, overcome poverty and build resilience to climate change.”

NFU President, Minette Batters, commented, “I am delighted that Team NFU will be running this year’s London Marathon to support our farming colleagues across eastern Africa. While we come from different continents, we all face the same food security challenges, and in times of such global volatility it’s more important than ever that we stand together. Just like here in Britain, African farms are often family run businesses. If they are allowed to thrive, family farms can provide huge economic and social benefits for their community. I am thrilled that Team NFU is doing its part to support that.”

If you are unable to sponsor Team NFU but have the time to run a marathon yourself, the final few charity places for Farm Africa are still available and one has your name on it! Get involved and submit your application here: www.farmafrica.org/londonmarathon.

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