Wheaton College Alumni Magazine Winter 2015 | Page 33

Tearfund/Clive Mear

Abby Hart ’09

Africa Atlantic Franchise Farms Ltd.

“My greatest hope comes from what’s happening on the ground—
with farmers, mothers, families—who are farming in ways they’ve
never dreamed of,” Stephan says. “They are producing higher value
crops, working in co-ops where they have better leverage and collective
bargaining, and accessing local, regional, and sometimes international
markets. The level of knowledge, ownership, and empowerment that
I see among people in these countries is very encouraging.”
The following Wheaton alumni are just a few of those making
progress on the ground, helping farmers develop methods to feed their
growing populations.

Building Opportunities Through Research
Along the shores of Lake Volta in Ghana, Jon Vandenheuvel ’91 owns
and operates a maize-growing farm—Africa Atlantic Franchise Farms
Ltd. (AAFF)—with an innovative goal.
He sees the 25,000-plus acre farm as a scalable laboratory of sorts, a
site where he and his colleagues bring in expert knowledge to figure out
how a mid-size farm could thrive in West Africa.
“We’re not just building a farm. We are building a system so it can be
replicated across Africa,” he says.
Jon aims to pass on the knowledge and experience gained through
his work at Africa Atlantic to his African counterparts through the
A