New Farming Project

Thank you to all our donors, we have met our fundraising goal!

 

WHY ARE WE INVESTED IN THIS PROJECT?

Sujanani knew that to increase her income she needed to make her farm more productive, but how to do it and who to trust was difficult. Sujanani can’t afford for things to go wrong on her farm because that’s her main source of income, so she decided the best thing for her was not to try anything new and stick to the traditional practices that she was more familiar with.

This is the story of so many small scale farmers. They need to adopt new practices and technologies but they need to be certain of the financial advantage that will result.

In a previous project we introduced new farming techniques to Sujanani’s village with a group that we call the early adopters. These are farmers that have an entrepreneurial spirit and more willing to trial new ideas. We shared stories and results with Sujanani and she gained a trust in the results and an understanding of how she could have the same results on her farm. New practices are critical to increase her income from her farm and with the work that we have already supported in her village, Sujanani is now ready to join the new farming project!

THE BENEFITS

The project will directly impact 36 small scale farmers and indirectly benefit over 100 people

Build social capital in the village by farmers who adopted practices earlier sharing inputs and their skills/knowledge with farmers involved in this project

  • Accelerate new technologies and practices that will significantly increase yield for 36 farmers
  • Prevent losses during flooding
  • Improved quality to meet more profitable market requirements
  • Farmers will know how to assess and self-produce seeds reducing costs of production
  • Increase income for families to better meet their needs and pursue goals important to them

HOW WILL THE PROJECT WORK?

Before this project commenced, we identified high performing peanut farmers in the Village of Colony that we call early adopters who trialled and tested the new practices and technologies.

After sharing their success, the 36 farmers in this project will undertake the training to follow in their footsteps and significantly increase their yield and income.

A very special part about this project is the sharing between the early adopters and the farmers in this project. This project is more cost effective that the initial project with the early adopters because the early adopters, for the subsidies that we provided for their inputs, now share their improved inputs with the farmers from this project – we call this passing the gift!

Not only are inputs shared, but knowledge as well – through mentoring and farmer training.

The estimated yield increase is approximately 50 – 60% and with the success of these 36 farmers more farmers will be sure to follow! We will be providing training on 7 key innovative practices during their harvest, providing close mentoring, linking with the agricultural extension services and facilitating the pass the gift program so these farmers also receive subsidised inputs required for these new practices.

HOW DO WE ENSURE THE PROJECT IS SUSTAINABLE AFTER LEAVE?

The program will support the training of the new techniques and provide intensive mentoring so that in time, farmers understand and have fully adopted these improved practices. Most importantly, facilitation of farmer to farmer training enables a strong culture of support to thrive in the village as farmers begin to understand that as producers they are much stronger in the market place as a collective. With improved skills, farmers will be able to stand on their own two feet without the continued support from our local team.

In the initial harvest inputs are subsidised, to encourage adoption of new technologies, but following that, farmers are independent in supporting themselves to purchase the improved inputs. As part of the technologies shared, farmers will learn how to assess and self-produce some inputs such as seeds.

This program forms part of a 5 year village program in the village of Colony. For 5 years our local team will be based in the village supporting farmers to learn new techniques and supporting them as they adopt the practices. After 5 years our team exists from the village and the farmers and the village will continue to thrive!