Farming out of poverty
Over the past 3 years we have been running a Smallholder Farmer Training Programme, it has been a huge success in that it has achieved its principal goals:
Increasing income for farmers.
Improved diversity of income, hence income security.
Greater use of best practice in farming and animal husbandry techniques.
Executive Summary
100% of farmers made a profit in 2022-23
Measured against the 2019 baseline survey, the following are our end of programme findings:
Average income across the group has increased by 192%
82% of farmers have diversified their income away from purely maize and pigeon peas.
Community Agricultural Support Officers have supported over 550 farms in Singe Ward and further afield in a multitude of agricultural activities including maize, peas, beans, assorted fruits and vegetables and livestock big and small.
100% of tomato farmers adopted organic soil enhancement techniques.
Chicken farmers are already showing incomes 3.7 times greater than those rearing chickens as a cottage industry level.
The income levels of farmers specialising in tomatoes have increased by 19 times greater than the group baseline.
Farmers are connecting with markets further afield
"I can now sell my produce at a higher price due to the improved quality which has increased my income."
Conclusions
Farming diversification levels are in flux suggesting there is no blueprint as to what the levels should be. Each farmer must assess what's best for their unique situation having regard to their unique environment.
Sharing our knowledge with farmers is essential but we must accept that they may not apply that knowledge at times within the timescale of a programme.
Being available to provide mentoring to farmers when they are ready to apply the knowledge is key to successful application.
Our adaptive management style, has ensured the programme has evolved from a blueprint training approach to a one-to-one mentoring approach, the impact of which are clearly very successful.
