The World We Want Foundation – Community Agriculture
November 2023
Community Agriculture – Case Studies
Habbert Were
Besides is a photo of Habbert Were, aged 59, from Buchifi village. He has a household size of 9 members. He has a total of 7 children, four of which are in school. His current occupation is solely farming.
In 2022, Habbert harvested 1.5 sacks of maize under OAF lasting his household of 9 only one and a half months and providing them with 1 meal a day.
In 2023, he was supported under the pilot model.
Now, with Nasio’s support, Habbert’s yield increased to 15 sacks of maize this season across all of his land.
His family now consume 3 meals per day instead of 1.
Habbert attributes the massive yield increase to two main factors: organic farming and the freedom of burden over loan repayments.
The sale of extra maize will pay towards his children’s school fees and towards next season’s farming inputs.
Habbert hopes to be self-sustainable after just one more season of support. He is excited to continue and advance his knowledge of organic agriculture and is dedicated to ensuring he’ll need no further support after one more year under the pilot model.
Margaret Chibasa
Margaret Chibasa is a farmer from Imanga village. She is one of the farmers who benefited from the pilot project. She is 52 years old. Last year Margaret harvested 2.5 bags of maize from ¼ an acre. Upon harvesting, she was forced to sell 2 bags of maize to pay for the One Acre fund loan and the maize that remained could not sustain her even for one month having a household size of 7.
When Margaret received the inputs from the project, she was able to plant and harvest 4.5 bags from the same piece of land she planted last year. The main difference between this year and last year, she says, is the timely distribution of inputs and the use of organic farming methods.
Margaret is grateful for the project since she is now able to acquire 3 meals a day compared to last year where she survived on a single meal a day.
Margaret has stored 3 bags of maize for future consumption and the remaining 1.5 bags will be sold when the market price is high to generate income which she will use to pay for her son’s school fees. She will also use the income to purchase farm inputs for the short rain season.
Margaret is grateful for the project, and she is optimistic that the project will lead to sustainability.
Grata Auma Sumba
Grata is an 88 year old widow, she lives in the remote village of Buchifi with her 10 year old granddaughter – who is also her caretaker. Grata is partially blind, having started to lose her sight 2 years ago.
Due to her gradually worsening disability and being the only adult in the household, it is impossible for her to find income or a livelihood outside of agriculture. She was enrolled in our pilot model and trained in organic agriculture alongside receiving high quality farm inputs.
Remarkably, despite her blindness, Grata still works on her farm.
She ploughs the land and can even weed the farm by knowing the feel of the different plants. She is assisted by her granddaughter in planting seeds and fertilisation. Through the Nasio Trust’s support, Grata harvested 135kgs of maize from her ¼ acre plot. Whilst this is still a below average yield, it is worth remembering that without the project, Grata said she would not have been able to buy enough seeds and fertiliser for her ¼ acre of land. Grata was depending on support from her family members to survive with her 10 year old granddaughter occasionally undertaking casual labour jobs to provide food and income.
Our team will be working closely with her to further increase her yield next year and help her and her granddaughter achieve self-sustainability.
This story is listed in: Achievements, Projects, Success Stories, Uncategorized
