Ministry of Agriculture workshop: Farming fuels a Nation

By Bryan 18X Crawford | Last updated: Feb 26, 2019 - 4:06:43 PM

CHICAGO—The Nation of Islam Ministry of Agriculture held an informative workshop Feb. 15 during the first day of the Saviours’ Day 2019 conference, discussing the importance of farming, agriculture, and animal husbandry.

Audience enjoys informative workshop on agriculture as "the engine" of "national life". Photos: Courtney X

The session was headed by Dr. Ridgely Abdul Mu’min Muhammad, farm manager and student minister of Agriculture for the Nation of Islam; his wife, Ann Muhammad of Muhammad Farms in Bronwood, Georgia; Patrick Muhammad, also of Georgia; and Gerald Muhammad of Vicksburg, Miss.

The workshop covered a variety of topics, including the history of Black land ownership in the South, as well as the subsequent migration to the North that caused Black people to give up land and the practice of farming altogether.

Panelists noted that in “The Time and What Must Be Done” lecture series, the title of Part 36 given by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan is called “Farming is the engine of your national life.”

The importance of agriculture cannot be understated in the context of building, maintaining and sustaining a nation, panelists noted. Unfortunately, over the last few generations of the Black man and woman’s sojourn in North America, the people have become consumers instead of producers and the needs of the Black community are supplied by someone else, they agreed.

Dr. Ridgely Abdul Mu'mim Muhammad, right, listens during agriculture workshop. His wife, Anne, was also part of the panel. Photos: Courtney X

However, a key takeaway of the workshop was the discussion of strategies that can make the practice of farming more lucrative, such as value-added farming, which is the concept of taking one product, converting it to a more valuable, consumer purchasable item, and selling it in that form as opposed to the raw form.

For example, on Muhammad Farms, instead of growing and selling pure wheat, Dr. Ridgely Muhammad, with the help of Min. Farrakhan, purchased a flour mill which is used to turn raw wheat into products such as whole wheat flour, muffin mix and bread mix.

The workshop also covered animal husbandry, particularly in the raising of cattle, an animal that Min. Farrakhan says is, “100 percent pure profit,” based on the value one cow can have in terms of converting every inch of it into a valuable, saleable commodity.

Another topic of discussion was the Nation of Islam Staple Goods program which sells items in bulk, that can be broken down into smaller, easier to sell individual products that could be easily sold to make money.

All told, Dr. Ridgely Muhammad couldn’t stress enough the need for Black people to come out of their current mindset of being consumers, and revert back to being producers, following the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and his stressing the need for us to do for self, particularly when it comes to growing our own food in order to protect ourselves from the many poisonous foodstuffs present on today’s grocery store shelves across the country.

“The weapon of choice the White man has chosen to exterminate us is poison; he’s been poisoning people ever since he came out of the caves. The easiest way to get rid of billions of people is through the food,” Dr. Ridgely Muhammad told The Final Call. “So, as a people, if we don’t start growing our own food, we’re going to be dead soon. This is also why we need land. Gold is valuable in the short term. But if you take the long view, land has more value than gold.”

The Final Call