The All Access Podcast

Lane Kipp: Well, welcome back to
our podcast here at all access.

Thanks for joining us.

I'm really excited for our guests today.

This has been a really fun
program to come alongside and

just a really interesting model.

And I'm excited to dive
deeper into it today.

So to do it today, we have Joy Coffman,
uh, founder, uh, farm stew with us

and, uh, Joy, thanks for joining me.

Joy Kauffman: Yeah, it's so
great to be with you, Lane.

And it's been awesome knowing you
for the last year and look forward to

getting to know some of the people that
follow you as well through this podcast.

Lane Kipp: Yeah.

Well, I, I wanted.

I really want to spend a lot of time
hearing more about the model because

it's so unique what you guys are doing
and there's a lot of stuff happening.

But there's a reason
why you do it that way.

Before we do that, what's the,
remind me of your background and

kind of the origin story of FarmStew.

Joy Kauffman: Yeah.

So I am a public health
nutritionist and what that means.

I studied undergrad in nutrition
and then later went back and got my

master's in public health, happily
from Johns Hopkins university.

And.

Yeah, it's been my passion really my
whole life to combine like health and

agriculture has always been a piece
of it and then my faith and so food

faith and farming Coming together.

Lane Kipp: Nice.

Well then, so tell me about like
what you were doing before FarmStew,

what led you to start it and what
that, what that was like starting it.

Joy Kauffman: Yeah, so the origin story
starts very young I got into nutrition

kind of as a child really with My
grandmother being very concerned when

I decided to become a vegetarian at
age eight and finalized it at age nine.

Um, so she thought I was
gonna be malnourished.

So suddenly I would go to health
food stores with my mom and learn

all about, you know, pick up
things and read about nutrition.

And then, uh, you know, she thought
I was gonna be sickly and stunted.

And a decade later I was getting a.

Full ride volleyball
scholarship to Virginia Tech.

So I was neither sick nor stunted.

Lane Kipp: Wow.

Joy Kauffman: So, um, and then I was
like filling out what I was gonna

major in and I really didn't know
and then all of a sudden I thought,

hey nutrition, that's an option.

And I'm excited because from the
very beginning of nutrition, I had

a passion for those that lack food.

And I had gotten exposed to
that while in high school by my

dad, who was a, um, engineer.

He got involved in water and
sanitation in developing countries.

And he had gone on a trip to Ethiopia.

And I had heard these stories
and I was like, wow, you know,

it was like late 80s, Ethiopia,
the whole crisis of their famine.

And that was kind of my first
exposure to really the need for

international development work.

And so I was able to study nutrition with
a focus in international development.

And yeah, fast forward a few years.

I did some international work, um,
but ended up back in Washington, DC

accompanying my sister on a, on a journey.

She went on health crisis related journey
and worked for various nonprofits in

some really cool roles, um, working
on nutrition in inner city, DC.

And then, yeah, I was led to do
the master's in public health.

From there, I went to
health and human services.

I was a presidential
management fellow at the U.

S.

department of health and
human services and loved it.

And then became a mom and got
to learn real health and human

services on the 24 seven kind,

Lane Kipp: Yeah.

Joy Kauffman: as you know, Lane,
being a parent of young children,

so I was blessed to stay home
with my kids for the next decade.

And during that time, um, helped
with a family business and my husband

and I had some blessings to be,
uh, rewarded financially for some

family business we were working on.

And so I became a donor, actually, to
a couple international non profits and

ended up getting on the board of one
of them that was helping smallholder

farmers in developing countries.

So it's exactly My sweet
spot of my passion.

They asked me to be on the board, and
lo and behold, that turned into an

opportunity to go with USAID on a short
term program in Uganda in October of 2015.

And that's where the story of Farms
Do Really got rolling, was during

that trip, I think, to Uganda.

Lane Kipp: So, what was it on that,
that trip that got FarmStew rolling?

Joy Kauffman: Yeah, well, I
had done a lot of research.

I, I wanted to understand what I was
getting into and what my assignment was,

was looking at soybeans, actually, and
working with a farmer's cooperative of

60, 000 farmers, and they wanted them to
help learn how to use soy better for their

own nutrition, but also for enterprise
and When I got there well before I got

there I realized you know one third of
the children in sub saharan Africa at

that time were severely malnourished and
Uganda was no different and that really a

lot of what they were lacking was certain
micronutrients and proteins and many of

which the soybeans could provide And so
it was really a passion for me to get,

uh, that message out in such a way that
people could really use it, even in the

poorest, most remote villages, which
is, yeah, where Lei and you and I, our

heart comes together in those places.

And, yeah, so I started teaching
these hands on cooking classes, just

going out in the villages, and I had
this guy who was a translator, and

realized pretty quickly it didn't make
sense for me to say the same thing.

Every single day, over and over
again, while he translated,

because it just took time.

And so, even within the first
week, I was already, what you'd

call, training the trainer.

So my translator was quickly becoming
the trainer, and I could just see the

enthusiasm when he was doing such a good
job facilitating, and then another guy

came and started volunteering, and he was
facilitating, and the kids, what really

got me was, I mean, You can't really
pay a kid in the United States enough

to eat, uh, uh, just cooked soybean.

You know, most, most kids would
be like, oh, no, thank you.

I mean, the kids were like
literally jumping up and down,

begging their mothers for these
beans that were just cooked beans.

And amazingly, the people
had been growing these beans.

For the, you know, many decades,
but it was like a cash crop.

They just sold it as if it was
like coffee or tea or soybeans.

And so they, in general, we're not
consuming it except for it in like a

roasted form that small kids couldn't eat.

And yet it's those small
children that need it the most.

And so, yeah, just to see these
kids, like literally jumping up and

down, begging for these beans and,
and, and knowing that so many of

them are going to die unnecessarily.

And even if they don't die, they're
going to be stunted both physically

and mentally because of malnutrition.

And it's like, I realized I
can do something about this.

And then the next thought is,
yeah, but I have kids of my own.

I got to go home and I
want to go home eventually.

Um, and so then I just thought about
these guys that are sitting there

training and facilitating so effectively.

And it's like, it just
came together in prayer.

And I felt like God just said.

You gotta hire the local people.

And so that's what I did.

And that was almost 10 years ago.

And praise God, they're
still doing the work.

And now it's spread to a lot of countries
all around the world, including South

Sudan where you and I connected.

Lane Kipp: Right.

Yeah, that is where we connected.

So, I came across FarmStew on
the South Sudanese NGO forum.

So, I mean, my job is start
with the data, look at the most

impoverished places, and South Sudan.

It was top of the charts.

I mean, it's so top of the charts
that even just getting data on South

Sudan is really hard and dangerous.

So that

Joy Kauffman: Yeah.

Lane Kipp: tells you, uh, kind
of the state of South Sudan.

So It's my job to go and find, okay,
who, what are the most effective

programs working in South Sudan?

The South Sudanese NGO Forum
had 372 organizations on it.

There's not a ton of other great data
on orgs that work in South Sudan,

because again, because of the civil war
and This is the state of South Sudan.

NGOs avoid working in South Sudan,
uh, because it is difficult.

But I came across, you know, Farms2
on there, and, uh, I remember because,

uh, uh, the name was so unique.

I was like, oh, I wonder what that is.

Started, you know, looking under the hood
of all of these organizations, and Uh, you

know, we partner with two in South Sudan
that year, and you guys were one of them.

Uh, the other one was Aqua Africa,
but yeah, it was, it was, uh, just

the more I looked under the hood,
just the more impressive the model.

Was and I want to I want to you to kind
of share more about the model of Farmstew

because it's very unique although, and
I think it's it's difficult It's there's

a lot of moving parts, but it's if we
really want to lift people out of poverty

Coming in with just one little solution
isn't usually the fix it takes multiple.

It's multi multi dimensional So
tell us a little bit about Yeah,

Joy Kauffman: Well, I'm thrilled to do
so, and I also do want to give you credit

for helping me be able to articulate it
as well as I can at this point, because it

is holistic, it is complex, and yet, uh,
I've been working with you now for quite

some time, and, and really have helped us
be able to hone in and articulate it well.

So, what FARM STEW does, Is we
are a training program that equips

families to move from extreme poverty
to abundant life and especially the

abundant life that Jesus offers.

And John 10:10 is our theme verse.

Um, we know that Jesus wants
us to have abundant life.

And sadly, we also know that
there's a thief that comes

to kill, steal and destroy.

And so we are focusing on a
range of activities that will.

Stop the thief's activities.

And so, yeah, basically the trainers
go out week after week into the

villages and they're doing activities
related to our eight ingredients.

We call it in the recipe
for abundant life.

They're teaching fruitful
farming, refreshing rest,

or sorry, positive attitude.

Refreshing rest.

Nutritious meals.

That spells farm, especially if
you do it in the right order.

And then proper sanitation,
wise temperance, profitable

enterprise, and clean water.

And so they're teaching on
all those eight modules.

We have a curriculum that's
400 page training modules,

um, 400 page manual that has.

And so, yeah, so what we're trying to
achieve through these teachings and

trainings locally is at the household
level, we want transformation to occur,

and that transformation is going to
result in specific things that we can see.

And measure that will show that we are
combating hunger, disease, poverty, and

hopelessness and doing it in such a way
that we have long term sustainability.

So that's kind of a mouthful.

I didn't do it as succinctly as I'd
like, but hunger, disease, poverty, and

hopelessness is what we are fighting
and we're doing so very effectively.

Lane Kipp: it's, it's been really
interesting to, to follow, you know,

part of my struggle as we're trying
to reduce these poverty levels.

You know, we look at the, the
multi dimensional poverty index.

It's the same thing that the
UN, when the UN says poverty,

that's what they're looking at.

Uh, it looks at these 10 indicators,
you know, water and assets

and nutrition and education.

But typically when we find organizations,
they address like one of them.

Um, and Which is great, uh, but
there's nine other ones that

they're, that they don't address.

So even if we drill wells and do all
this, and great, now they have access to

safe drinking water, you know, they still
struggle with, um, you know, nutrition,

they still don't have schools to go to,
or they may not have, uh, income or access

to jobs, or their, the dad may still
be Uh, drunk and beating the family.

I mean, so there's always a number of,
of things where, uh, you come across

you guys and you address, you know,
virtually all of those indicators.

You're training the families how
to do it themselves as opposed to

coming in and, like, they're always
dependent on the Farms to Program.

You're teaching them over several
years how to do this themselves,

how to grow nutritious food, how to.

Um, you know why it's important to
have a good attitude and, and behave

well, both socially and in the home.

You know, discipleship, you name it.

Um, and you walk alongside them for
two years using locals, uh, which

I had the opportunity, I guess the
year before last to go to South Sudan

and, and meet your team in person.

And it was, uh, just really encouraging.

Yeah, I'd all have to say joy.

I don't know where I'm going with
this, but it's pretty, from our

perspective, it was pretty, pretty neat.

And especially when you look at,
you know, the cost per impact,

which is really important to us.

Joy Kauffman: Yeah, well, I
just want to say I, I love.

And I feel so thankful and honored
that you found us, Lane, and like,

you know, 300 and something NGOs in
South Sudan alone, you know, and to

be sort of found by, by all access and
then also, you know, to be one of the

nine in your portfolio at that time,
it just feels like such an honor.

And it's really exciting to me because I.

I truly believe that the
model that we have is working

and I've seen it firsthand.

I see the reports all the time.

We talk to most of our countries
every other week or every week

when they're getting started.

And I mean, just to get the stories
back, like I'm sometimes just

flooded with them and you know, we
produce a quarterly donor newsletter.

So it's like, you know, financial
report, you get quarterly every quarter.

We've been doing that since 2017.

And it's like.

To me, what's so exciting is just
like that we really do have a holistic

solution and it's all Bible based.

And so what we're really proving
here is not just that the farmstew

model works, but that the Word
of God is powerful and effective.

And wow, like what an
amazing thing to be part of.

Lane Kipp: Yeah.

Isn't that, isn't that the truth?

Uh, who would have thought, you
know, that, that God, that God knew,

you know, how humanity should live.

Uh,

Joy Kauffman: Amen.

Lane Kipp: So it's really cool.

I really want to talk about the
program specifically and because it,

we, it completed as one of the few
in our portfolio that we've, we've

seen, you know, from start to end.

Um, but before we do that, could
you share more about your own

experience with South Sudan?

I don't think people really understand
the gravity of the state there.

And very few of us, like you and I have.

actually been there.

And, um, I mean, what's when you
think about all the countries

you've been to when you think about
northern, you know, northern Uganda,

South Sudan, what's happening there?

What was it like for you?

Joy Kauffman: Yeah, you know, I've
never, I've never shared this comparison

exactly, but as you were just asking
me this question, the picture in my

mind that, That just came to my mind
is there was a picture many years

ago where a photographer took a
picture of a young girl sitting there,

like starving, and there was like
a vulture that was about to come up

and it looked like going to eat her.

You're nodding.

So you remember and maybe
your listeners also remember.

Well, that guy who took that picture,
he ended up winning a Pulitzer prize

and he ended up committing suicide.

It was like so overwhelmingly painful.

That he just didn't even
know what to do with it.

And, um, honestly, that is what
you can see in South Sudan.

You, you go out into these villages and.

It's just dirt.

I mean, just red blown, hot dirt flying
in your face and on the bodies of the

children and you see the, the orange hair,
which for me as a nutritionist, I know

that's a protein deficiency right there.

You see the bloated stomachs, you see
they're barefoot and sometimes naked.

And it's like overwhelmingly sad.

And then you also can see like all these
little alcohol bottles, which FARM STEW

addresses temperance, that we address
alcoholism, which almost no NGO does that,

and we have a biblical basis for doing so.

Um, and then I guess just on the flip
side, what I've also been able to see is

literally communities where those dirty,
ragged, you know, totally ill children,

Are now living a vibrant, abundant life
and their parents are standing there next

to them with the pride and the dignity of
having worked the farms do model, having

gardens, having hand washing stations.

So the stomachs are not bloated with
worms, you know, having an income and

going to school and, you know, getting
to have the type of life that you and

I want for our kids or your listeners
might want for their grandkids, you know?

And so it's like, yeah.

I just praise God that I know we're
just called to do our part of the work.

I mean, the overwhelmingly suffering,
you know, overwhelming level of suffering

and pain that there is in this world.

Sometimes I just have to remember
that, you know, God knows all of it.

And as much as I get exposed to parts of
it and it's, and it's painful, he actually

experiences the pain at a level that.

I can't even fathom.

And yet his response is that he calls his,
his followers to do something about it.

And so the joy of being able to
actually do something about it, just.

You know, overwhelms that, that
sense of despair that you could

have and, and rightfully so.

And so that's, for me, it's like, is
hard to describe and often I'm not even

given the time when I've, you know, given
time to give speeches, which I love.

But usually I'm given such a short
amount of time that I don't even get to

feel what I've just felt in describing,
felt, sorry, in describing that to you.

It is, it is painful and, and I know you.

You walk through that pain too, Lane,
and doing the work you are called to do.

And thank God for that.

Lane Kipp: Yeah, it is, um, you really
can't, I mean, we look at it a lot in

numbers, and I remember telling a group in
the fall this, the reason we are so bent

on numbers because they represent real
people, and some of those are my friends

that I've now met as I've traveled around
who fall in those categories, uh, from

my time in Haiti, and then, uh, you know,
and Uganda and South Sudan and places

I've been, but yeah, South Sudan, it's a,

it's a long way to go.

Uh, there's a lot of need.

The orange, orange hairs
you talk, talked about.

Yeah.

Remember that.

And, but, uh, you know, it's
the newest country in the world.

And, um, it's, there's just a lot
of stuff happening, but, but the

people that are pretty amazing.

And, uh, you know, I got to talk
with, um, some from the Dinka

tribe, the new air tribe and, and
together, uh, and just the stories.

It's pretty incredible.

We could talk a lot long time about that,
but I just, the, you know, for those who

might not even know where South Sudan is.

I just want to highlight South Sudan as
much as I can because it's, it gets often

overlooked because it is complicated.

So, um, but all right, let's talk
about the, the program itself.

So we, you know, looked at these 372.

This was two years ago.

Now, you know, we work
in iterations every year.

We look at our portfolio.

So you guys had a Uh, we're
launching a two year program in

Magui, uh, South Sudan, which is
right on the border of Uganda.

Uh, so I got to go there a couple years
ago and see it, but, uh, this two year

program come alongside 250 households,
so you guys work with households.

Um, it was a 120, 000 program, so
about less than 500 a household.

And, you know, we, that program ended,
uh, in September, October of 2024,

and, you know, successfully came out
of the portfolio because it completed.

And you guys did an impact evaluation on
that, got a group, they did a survey with,

uh, people who went through the program.

I think they surveyed like 101 folks,
which makes the math nice and easy.

But it's pretty, uh, you know,
it's a, it's a long report, but.

Uh, just looking back at that
report, it's pretty incredible,

uh, the way the, the numbers there.

So I'd love to share those, but I mean,
from your perspective on the program

itself, just from a internally at
FarmStew, how did it go for you guys?

Joy Kauffman: Yeah, I mean, it was
powerful and we had some just fantastic

people serving as our trainers, people
that have been serving with us for

several years and knew the communities.

Um, but with this project, we
moved into new communities that had

never heard of FARM STEW before.

And to be looking at the data and to
see that after the two years in this

land where, you know, it's practically
at famine level for most of the people,

most of the time to have 97 of them say,
we now have enough to eat and then to

have them say overall on average that
their household income was Raised x8

Lane Kipp: Yep.

Joy Kauffman: that's multiplication,
you know, and, and I like to say, God

is a God of multiplication and so to
have their income raised x8 and we know

from some other data, um, that even the,
the church tithe in a different area.

This is not in the mug.

We project area.

But it had raised 450%.

So, you know, if tithe is 10 of, of
what you give, you know, or what you

earn, it's, that's just powerful.

And so not only are they making more
money, but they're actually using

it for good, you know, meaning.

They're not just taking it and buying
junk food and, you know, little

shots of alcohol, which is sadly what
happens often when development work

happens and there's not a spiritual
or discipleship component to it.

You can actually make people worse off by
what they can buy with the extra income.

So yeah, we're, we're really
thrilled about it and.

And, and that is also the model
that they don't need us forever.

And so as much as we want to do another
project with all access, you know, we, we

do need to move on to the next community
because we're not trying to create the

dependency or the handout mentality
that frankly just is a bottomless pit.

Yeah.

Lane Kipp: Yep.

Yeah.

So what it looks like on the
ground, you know, with you

guys, it's a two year program.

You have, you know, local trainers come
alongside these 250 households who are

training them, you know, what crops
to, you know, grow best in those areas,

where they're most nutritious, how to
sell those, you do, you know, savings

groups, so start village and savings
loans associations where they can, you

know, pull their savings together, make
loans to each other in the group, which,

uh, a lot of groups are doing across
Africa, but it's a really, really neat

program, and then helping with those.

sanitation hygiene, which those
in disease prevention know, you

know, water access is great.

But if you're not, you know, addressing
sanitation and hygiene that it doesn't

impact that disease as much as you hope.

So, I mean, you guys are addressing
all of these that discipleship

behavior, you know, temperance.

And, uh, I've got some of the numbers.

So you mentioned the 97% Households
reported now having sufficient

food to feed their families.

That's a big deal.

Uh, really big deal.

The other number, you know, the
eight times average household

increase their income by eight times.

And that's a conservative estimate.

Joy, you know, as we're looking at that
report and doing the numbers, you know,

it's kind of pushing like 12 or 13, but
it's, you know, they fall in categories.

So when they're answering that survey,
it's like, okay, if you're making

between these two and these two.

And so I conservatively.

Calculated eight, um, just to
not oversell, but eight times.

That's a big deal.

I mean, can you imagine,
uh, That eight times.

And then, uh, what was the last one?

Oh, it was the, the increase in number
of households having three meals per

day, which is a another big deal.

I mean, three meals per day in
a developing country is huge.

It went from, you know, 3 percent
of people before the program.

We're eating three meals a day.

It's now 60%.

You know, 50 percent 57 percent
increase in the number of households.

Uh, pretty amazing.

So, you know,

Joy Kauffman: Yeah.

And I wish your listeners could see
some pictures if, if they go to farmstu.

org and Backslash newsletters.

Um, it's, we wrapped up this project
in the third quarter of 2024.

So it's right there.

And I'm just looking at the
picture of, of the article.

It's called hope restored
families flourishing.

And I think that's a great summary of what
this project was able to do is just really

restore the hope of the people there.

And when you talked about the village
saving and loan association, that

is an incredibly powerful tool.

And it's.

It's kind of a, sounds like a big
word, but basically you're going into

communities and creating community
banking, where in its absence, the

only way to get money if you need money
is from a very predatory lender, and

that often leads to bankruptcy and
leads to people losing their homes

and, you know, and even their land and
everything, and The opposite of being

part of this village savings and loan
association, they actually each week

when the trainer comes and trains on
a lesson, they will meet and they will

actually have a club where everybody's
putting in a certain amount of money.

And then the group can actually
take loans on that money.

And they charge interest, but
the interest ultimately goes

to everybody in that group.

And so it's actually an incredible
way to create capital and

they're using their own money.

And we have stories where the communities
were saying, you know, well, why

doesn't the The organization put money
in and actually in our most recent

newsletter, there was a guy in South
Sudan saying, you know, at the start,

we just thought this was ridiculous
because we don't have any money here.

What are you talking about saving money?

We don't have any.

And in that community, I actually edited
it out of the newsletter because I

thought it sounded almost unbelievable,
but that little club in a year had

raised 20, 000 in a community where
they thought everybody was dirt poor.

And I'm like, I, and I just, it was like
amazing to me and, but you know, you have

50 people in a household, so it's, you
know, but it's the first time that they've

ever had a banking system or even be able
to think conceptually about the future

in a way that is proactive and positive.

So, yeah, it's really exciting.

Lane Kipp: Yeah, you're right.

And I remember one of the first stories
we got from the field about this

program was the story of some twins.

I believe twin girls who were pregnant.

You know, obviously having a baby in
a developing country, specifically

the poorest country in the world,
South Sudan is difficult, but

having to at the same time is
fatal, mostly in most circumstances.

So, you know, I remember seeing
the before the pictures of the

babies when they just joined.

the program wasn't good.

And then I don't know if it was
three months, six months later.

I mean, you see these plump kids
and it was just so cool to see.

Joy Kauffman: I don't know if I can
share my screen, but it's funny.

That's exactly what I'm
looking at right here.

Cause that was the first quarter.

Is it, if you do screen share, you're
maybe not everybody's it's a podcast, but

Lane Kipp: I don't know how
to do it, to be honest, joy.

Uh, but, but yeah, it's, uh,

Joy Kauffman: it's right
there on the farmsdue.

org backslash newsletter.

That's from the first quarter of
2024 is the story of these twins.

And literally we, I mean, when I first
heard about these twins, I didn't even.

Um, publish the story with both of
them because I just, I kind of had to

assume it was so skin and bones and
like their little buttocks where you

should have little round buttocks.

It was like drapes of skin

how Lord, you know, it's just amazing.

Our trainers have such big hearts, you
know, and we try to pay living wages.

And these are trainers actually took
some of their own money and helped this

family have some supplemental food.

We usually don't hand out any food,
but in this dire circumstance, our

trainers hearts were just so big.

They did the right thing and yeah,
these girls on, on the cover of this

newsletter here are in these cute
little dresses and they have little

plump cheeks and we don't show their
buttocks, but I'm sure they're plump too.

And yeah, praise God, because you know,
who knows what those little girls are

going to grow up and do with their
lives or what they're called to do.

And we want to help them
reach their potential.

Lane Kipp: Yep.

Yep.

And this, and this is why we want to.

Why it's important to go and find really
effective programs and, you know, not

look at, you know, who's the most marketed
or most popular, this or that, but the

programs that are actually moving the
needle the most in these places and,

uh, because of this, because of this
story and all the people that this,

the data we talked about represent.

So, Joy, for what you're doing.

Keep it up with FarmStew.

We love it.

And, uh, yeah, just
encouraged everybody farmstu.

org go learn more about them.

It's really a cool, interesting model.

I hope more groups pick it up and take
what you guys have proven and run with it.

But Joy, thanks for joining me today.

Joy Kauffman: You're so welcome.

And just, I do want to say other groups,
if there's people listening that are.

Running an NGO, I do want to say we make
our curriculum available free online.

And if your organization wants to, you
know, use this Bible based holistic

curriculum, uh, you're welcome to do so
just, just send me a note joy at farmstu.

org.

And, uh, but anybody can take the
course anywhere in the world for free.

And, um, we are very thankful to
be able to share it and thank you

Lane for giving us this platform to
share with your listening audience.

We

appreciate it.

Lane Kipp: Absolutely.

Well, thank you, Joy.

And I'll talk to you soon.

Joy Kauffman: All right, God bless.