CNFA Unlocks Smallholder Farmer Potential in Kenya
CNFA and its Kenya affiliate Agricultural Market Development Trust (AGMARK) have changed many smallholder farmers’ lives as CNFA works toward its mission to increase access to improved farm inputs and better production practices.
Take for instance Joseph and Rosemary Kisongochi, of Bungoma District in Western Kenya, who have gone from being casual workers on other farms to role models whose farm is an example for others to follow.
Demo Plot Changes Kosongochis' Lives
Four years ago, Joseph and Rosemary were introduced to CNFA’s demand creation activities by certified agrodealer Godfrey Wambwa, who was looking for a farm near the main road to set up a maize demonstration plot.
“When Wambwa approached us requesting for part of our farm along the busy road to be used as a demo plot and explained the purpose and benefits of the undertaking we readily agreed,” Joseph said.
After the maize demo plot was established, CNFA organized a field day which more than 600 smallholder farmers attended. Farmers were taught by the Kenya Seed Company about maize spacing, selection of improved maize varieties, fertilizer application, maize treatment and storage among other agronomic practices.
The whole experience was an eye opener for the Kisongochis.
“We used to practice subsistence farming and hardly harvested enough to feed our family,” said Rosemary, mother of three. “In fact, we used to work on other people’s farms as casual workers so to get food for our family, which now looking back was ridiculous, particularly given the fact that we owned over two acres of land.”
Turning Knowledge into Results
After the first field day was held on their farm, Joseph and Rosemary started practicing what they had learned. Through Wambwa, also CNFA’s Community Mobilizer in the region, they could easily access farm inputs from his Wayside Agrovet, less than a kilometer away.
Wambwa also introduced them to CNFA’s Farm Inputs Savings and Loan (FISL) program with which they save money by purchasing inputs in groups with other farmers.
“FISL has been instrumental in helping us save the little money we get from selling milk [and] horticulture and from doing casual labor in the neighborhood, hence [guaranteeing] farm inputs by the beginning of every planting season,” Rosemary said.
Joseph and Rosemary’s farm has experienced a green revolution. While practicing subsistence and traditional farming, the Kisongochis barely harvested four bags of maize from an acre; now they harvest more than 15 bags. They are now practicing conservation tillage, crop rotation and integrated farming and able to grow different type of crops including beans, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, onions, capsicums, cabbage, kales and bananas.
From Casual Workers to Farmer Role Models
The impact is quite evident.
“First and foremost, my family is guaranteed of food security,” Joseph said. “And the thought of not having to worry where my family will get their next meal is very comforting. Initially at this time of the year I used to go out with my wife and children to weed people’s maize so as to be given food, but as you can see now, it’s actually other people who are now working on my farm so as to be given food.”
With the proceeds he gets from farming, Joseph has bought a cow and is in the process of building a modern, permanent toilet. Joseph was also able to a buy a plough and two oxen which he uses to plough his farm and other people’s farms at a cost of Ksh. 1,500 per acre.
“I am also able to comfortably pay school fees for my children,” Joseph added.
Joseph, whose farm is used consistently as a demo plot by the divisional Ministry of Agriculture and local certified agrodealers, said that his mission is to assist other smallholder farmers in the area to boost their productivity and household incomes.
