In order to increase crop production and productivity, farmers in the Were Jarso district, Ethiopia, needed new seed varieties and the skill-sets to cultivate and harvest the different crops. The members of Farmer Field School groups were given improved wheat, teff, which has an attractive nutrition profile, being high in dietary fiber and iron and providing protein and calcium. Maize, potato and chickpea seeds that were distributed and demonstrated in large scale at field level. The performance of these seeds was found to be successful with an average yield doubling the gain from local varieties.

The Farmer Field School members wanted to promote and share the new knowledge and skills they had obtained with the success of these new seeds. They decided to have a seed fair. Government stakeholders as well as Farmer Field School members collaborated to organize the event. Farmers who participated in the fair were from five kebeles, or communities. They were invited to display their seeds, the new technologies and skills they had gained. Development agents, district level professionals, and private individuals were also invited to attend the event. Altogether, about 58 people were in attendants.

During the event, the improved seeds of teff, wheat, potato, maize and chickpea were displayed and explanations by farmers, who used the improved seeds, were presented to the audience. The seed users gave brief explanations about their seeds, followed by questions, and comments from the participants. Issues raised and discussed, regarding the seed technologies, included productivity, agronomic practices (raw planting, weeding, fertilizer application) and associated challenges. During the session, it was revealed that almost all crop varieties have registered a productivity of more than double compared to the local variety! The need to apply improved agronomic practices was greatly emphasized in order to combat challenges such as labour shortages, intensive weeding and erratic rainfall.

The participants were so excited and appreciated the importance of the seed fair. Participants left with a better understanding of the importance of planting a variety of seeds and implementing better agronomic practices for improved crops and community nutrition.

Tomatoes are one of the most widely grown vegetable throughout Malawi. This is because they can be grown year round and normally takes an average of 90 days to mature. Unfortunately, due to their highly perishable nature, if not picked at the right time or stored incorrectly, much of the crop will spoil before it can be consumed or sold.

Tomatoes grown by the women of Mtendere Farmer Field School

The Mtendere Farmer Field School has taught women, like Jenipher, who are struggling to support their families, how to grow, store and market tomatoes. Members have learnt that it is very important to stack the crop to make sure that the tomatoes do not sit on the ground where they will rot or become damaged by the heat and other crawling pests. “It is important to harvest tomatoes when they have just started ripening and arrange for marketing as soon as possible because tomatoes are a perishable commodity.” said Jenipher.

“Good quality tomatoes will always attract a large number of customers at the market. Our tomatoes are of good quality. That’s why we are selling a large quantity very fast” continued Jenipher with a smile. “Apart from selling we are also using some of the tomatoes to feed our families which will help to improve our household nutrition.“

Jenipher proudly shows off her quality tomatoes

With the success of the first year of tomato farming the women of the Mtendere Farmer Field School have decided to use their profits to increase their cultivation land. They will now be able to diversify their crops while continuing to grow and sell quality tomatoes.

Santa farms sunflower and epuripur sorghum, which is a principal source of energy, protein, vitamins and minerals. It grows in harsh environments where other crops do not grow well. Santa also farms groundnuts on her five acre land, as a source of income for her family.

Santa had been farming for a couple of years, unfortunately she was never able to make enough money to support her family. “We could hardly afford a decent meal and life was generally horrible. In spite of our hard work, we lacked a sense of direction”, said Santa.

In order to improve her livelihood Santa joined a Farmer Field School group. The support of the group and the training she received helped her to “improve and scale up my sunflower and epuripur sorghum production as well as linked me with other development partners and resource suppliers through coordination meetings.” Through these contacts Santa, combined with 25 other Farmer Field School members, was able to harvest close to 15 tons of sunflower and 30 tons of epuripur sorghum during the harvesting season!

Santa Ojok joyously poses for a photo with her sorghum

“My involvement in Farmer Field School has really changed my life, I’ve been able to link my Farmer Field School members to so many resource suppliers and development partners which has helped us improve the lives of our families as well as our communities.” Santa’s Farmer Field School group was able to purchase a milling machine that currently “helps supplement our income. Generally, life has improved”, said Santa, “with the income I realized from farming last year, I have been able to start constructing a permanent house for my family and most importantly, educating my children in relatively modest schools.”

Santa shows the new grinding mill that has helped her community

For over a year now, Santa has had sufficient food to feed her family and cover basic household expenses. “We are no longer scared of tomorrow. ”

She has a hectare of land which she had to rent out in order to generate income. To support her family she also had to sell Injera[2] to supplement the household income. Unfortunately, there was not always enough money and W/ro Kibe was forced to borrow food, specifically grain, during these difficult times. Knowing that she needed to improve her and her family’s livelihood W/ro Kibe joined the Qorre-odda sheep rearing Farmer Field School group in 2009 as one of 20 female members.

The Farmer Field School group was trained on sheep rearing and management as well as the importance of gender equality. The group also learned about savings, loans and re-investing. The women bought three sheep each in January 2010. The sheep were bought in the form of micro-credit and participants are expected to repay 25% of the cost to their Farmer Field School group.

W/ro Kibe proudly displays her sheep and new cow

After one year, W/ro Kibe’s three sheep gave her four additional offspring! She decided to sell three sheep and bought a cow. W/ro Kibe is hopeful that she will continue to improve her income, “they are my life” she said, referring to her sheep and new cow. “This woman had no assets, limited agricultural knowledge and no hope for her family’s future . But now she has become a hard working farmer with hope for a better future“, said Ato[3] Habtamu Adere, the kebele manager.

W/ro Kibe said this when asked about her situation, “harvest was poor; farm plots are so small and insufficient to produce what would be needed to feed the family. Life was hard. I had been renting out land because I had no oxen for ploughing. Since the training with my Farmer Field School group, my life has started to change for the better. Now, if you go and see my sheep and cow, it looks promising.“

[2] Injera is a national dish in Ethiopia which is a yeast risen flatbread with a unique, slightly spongy texture traditionally made out of a cereal – teff.

[3] Ato is a sign of respect for men in Ethiopia and is always put in front of the first name.

Omara's grass thatch house

“In 2009, CPAR Uganda realized my vulnerability as a small-scale farmer and sole provider for my family. They selected me to join the Acai Ogik Farmer Field School” said Omara. Through participating in his Farmer Field School, Omara gained new skills to help him maximize the productivity of his rice crop. “With the increased knowledge in rice production and support of 15 Kg of Upland rice given to me as a start up kit, I managed to harvest 26 bags which I sold at the market,” said Omara. “Not only did the training I receive from CPAR help me achieve a good yield, it taught me how to maximize my land. I am now pursuing farming more aggressively as the only means I have to improve my livelihood,” said Omara.

Omara's new house, under construction

With the income he realized from the sale of rice, Omara purchased 17 beehives and re-invested some of the money into his farm by planting three acres of sunflower seeds. With sunflower and apiary, a place where beehives are kept, Omara was again able to earn enough money last year to support his family and continue to grow his farm.

Showing off his newly acquired beehives

Since then Omara has decided to diversify his agricultural production. He now grows nutritious vegetables such as eggplant, cabbage and green pepper. “I am now one of the renowned vegetable growers in Alapata Parish,” boasts Omara. “I’m tired of sleeping in a grass thatched house, smeared with cow dung. My dream for my family is to live in a permanent house and it is finally coming true! I am now able to construct a permanent house with an iron sheet roof and am able to send my first born son to King James Secondary School in Lira Town.”

Rain-fed agriculture depends on consistent, large amounts of rain during the rainy season which lasts from December to March. Unfortunately, the rains have become progressively unreliable over the past couple of years.  Farmers, like Paulo, have been facing challenges with their rain-fed crops. “As usual we planted our crops in the main season relying on rains but unfortunately the whole season was characterized by dry spells and this really affected my harvest because my crops faced critical water shortages forcing me to harvest only a small amount of maize from a hectare of land. With maize being our staple food, this yield was not enough to feed my family for the entire year. In the lean months of January and February our house completely ran out of food. My children, especially the younger ones like Chisomo, started suffering from hunger related illnesses. I hardly spent time at home as I was always out hunting for work  so that I would be able to get food for the day” said Paulo.

Paulo and a few members of his family

When CPAR expanded their programs into Paulo’s village, through the Farmers First project, Champhezi Farmer Field School was created. Farmer Field Schools are farmer-led ‘schools without walls’ that build on farmers’ existing knowledge and experience, to enable them to come together to experiment and adapt farming methods to suit their own unique and often fragile ecosystems. In Paulo’s Farmer Field School, farmers came together to grow different crops and learn from one another and to share experiences. “Through this farmer field school, we have learned a number of agricultural practices such as irrigation, crop management and crop diversification.  CPAR has also provided us with improved seeds. These trainings and the improved seeds were a milestone for me and my family as they gave us knowledge, strength and direction on improved agricultural production.” Paulo declared.

Paulo was particularly impressed with the irrigation agriculture that he has now been using since the 2011-2012 season. “I grew maize through treadle pump irrigation as part of our winter cropping activities. I have managed to harvest, on just 0.2 hectares of land, enough maize, during the January 2012 harvest, to see my family through to the next maize harvest from my upland gardens later in April.” said Paulo.

Paul and his wife Sophelete

CPAR encourages farmers like Paulo to use irrigation in order to relieve food shortages and enhance long-term food security. This is done by enabling families to plant and harvest crops throughout the year instead of relying solely on the rainy season. Paulo concluded, “Harvests from winter crops have put smiles back on our faces, in my family, as this has helped us to escape the usual difficult lean season with adequate food for my everyone, year round!“

Merisiana Nade besdie one of her papaya trees

One of those women farmers is Merisiana Nade. Merisiana is 41 years old and a mother of four children. She is a member of Tumaini Farmer Field School from Kilimatembo village, Karatu District, Tanzania. The Tumaini Farmer Field School has 21 female members and nine male members. Before joining the group in 2010, Merisiana spent most of her time at home working on the farm, but unable to claim control over the returns to any significant extent.

She heard about CPAR’s Farmers First initiative at a community meeting and decided to join a Farmer Field School group that was learning the value of growing papaya. During the meetings Merisiana raised the concern that her husband would not allow her to plant papaya because the papaya trees would take up space used for cash crops. This salient point led to a wider discussion over resource ownership and gender imbalances. Soon afterwards, a training workshop was conducted specifically for women, focusing on taking a critical look at gender challenges and developing leadership skills among women farmers. Successfully completing the training, Merisiana soon found herself elected as the Chairperson of her Farmer Field School group.

By participating in training on papaya production and management, Merisana became equipped with the knowledge that papaya production does not necessarily entail a negative impact on cash crop production. She was then able to negotiate with her husband, and ultimately, to move ahead with papaya prodution. She noted: “Now I have enough leadership skills to negotiate with my husband about land use and discuss the plan for our maize field. He now understands why I need to be able to plant papayas with the other crops.”

Merisiana invited her husband to the Farmer Field School meetings and her husband realized that his wife and other women were gaining knowledge and skills on papaya production while also gaining important knowledge on sexual and reproductive health topics.

Today Merisiana and her family are intercropping papaya with their maize and pigeon pea crops. “You see, if it was not for Farmer Field School training on gender and leadership, I would not have the confidence to discuss land use with my husband. Now, my kids have access to nutritious fruit and my income has been improved by selling papaya.” said Merisiana.

She invited other women from her village to visit her farm to see how she is successfully managing her papaya production initiative, and is actively distributing papaya seeds and planting materials to them so that they may duplicate the effort.

“Although women in my village do not control land, I believe that with more knowledge on gender issues and leadership skills, women will be able to negotiate the use of their land in order to accommodate their needs and their family’s needs and priorities.” concludes Merisiana.

Farmer Field School farmers in Ethiopia’s Jarso district grow a variety of crops for home consumption as well as for sale.  Farmers in the surrounding areas often market their produce by taking it to the nearest local market where prices are low and often vary quite widely. Middlemen often enter communities to buy cheaply and sell at higher prices in larger markets. Unfortunately, the process of middlemen-distribution creates a big gap between the farm-gate price and the consumer price. No matter how high a price paid by the consumers, a considerable share of the profit goes to the middlemen at the expense of both the producers and the consumers. Farmers often cite their notion that there is little they can do to overcome these sorts of challenges.

After much discussion, some of the Farmers Field Schools with whom CPAR is engaged have decided to establish marketing cooperatives that primarily focus on production and marketing of staple crops such as wheat and teff.

Marketing cooperative members attend a meeting

Three Farmer Field School groups in Jarso district set out to earn a better market price for their produce thereby bettering their income for their households.

“The communities in Abo Yeyebena kebele have been suffering from limited market opportunities. We have now seen the way out and can move forward together for collective action”, said Ato* Lema, Chairperson of the marketing cooperative.

Cooperative Establishment and Promotion Office Representative Ato Teshome said, “when marketing activities are handled by farmers’ cooperatives, the surplus, or profits, can be paid back to the members in the form of dividends, which increases the farmers income and raises their living standards.”

In rural areas of Ethiopia, increases in agricultural production and household income are determined by the performance of the market. Raising the living standards of the poor, in a sustainable way, can only be possible when rural families are able to get a reasonable price for their produce. Marketing cooperatives are an ideal institution for the rural poor because they provide financial credit services, support programs and training on ways to re-invest profits back into their farms in order to maintain as well as increase their land and crops, which in turn promotes sustainable livelihoods.

*Ato is used in front of a man’s first name in Ethiopia. Mister (Mr.) is the English equivalent.

W/ro* Aster Lemma of Abo Yayebena kebele, Harborenda village in Ethiopia is 28 years old. She has three children, the eldest is 8 years old while the youngest is only 2.  W/ro Aster’s annual food crops produced on her 1.5 hectares of land did not support her family throughout the year  and unfortunately, crop production was the only source of income for her family. W/ro Aster needed to improve the nutritional status for her family and also needed to diversify her income sources for the household.

W/ro Aster's future is bright thanks to her new green pepper crop

CPAR Ethiopia has supported vegetable project in the district since 2009 and with the help of the local Farmer Field School (FFS) group, Harborenda FFS, w/ro Aster was trained on agronomic and land management practices and received green pepper seeds which she planted on 0.062 hectares of land.

“I never tried to produce pepper because I never saw other villagers doing it. It was only after training and discussion in my Farmer Field School group that I came to realize the market value of pepper and the potential income. I farmed pepper on a small acre and received about 3000 birr ($176 CDN) from the sale of only half my crop. The other half I use to feed my family to improve their nutrition”, said w/ro Aster. This is a remarkable turn in the livelihood of w/ro Aster’s family.

When asked about her future plans, w/ro Aster said that she “wanted to expand her pepper farm and engage in other income generating activities such as sheep rearing with the income she would get from pepper. Neighbours are also motivated“, according to w/ro Aster, “to engage in similar business when they heard that I have made good money from pepper production.”

*W/ro is a sign of respect for women in Ethiopia and is always put in front of the name.

Divason Phiri is 38 years old and lives in Masinja Village, Chinzu. Divason is married to Chrissy who is 34 years old. Together, the family has four children, all of them are girls, namely Patricia 11, Edna 10, Maria 7, and Enita 3. Three of the girls attend primary school except Enita who is the youngest.

Divason is a farmer and for years he has been growing crops like maize, groundnuts, soya beans among others. Divason has also been growing vegetables like tomatoes, mustard seeds and pumpkin leaves which provide much needed nutrients for his family. Unfortunately, growing vegetables is only possible during the rain season which is only 3 months long, from December until March.

“When CPAR introduced Farmer Field Schools, I was very much impressed when I was selected to be one of the first project beneficiaries from my village. We started our Farmer Field School with 25 members comprising 14 men and 11 women. After establishing the group, we were trained by experienced agricultural extension workers in new and improved agriculture practices such as conservation agriculture, inter-cropping, irrigation farming and village savings and loans programs. I was particularly impressed with irrigation farming because with irrigation you can grow crops throughout the year. The good thing about farmer field schools is that the learning is both theoretical and practical thus making a lot of farmers enthusiastic and willing to adopt a lot of skills.” Explains Divason.

Divason, proudly displays his high quality tomatoes

“At the Farmer Field School, we established our own plot of land to learn through practice. CPAR provided us with start-up vegetable seeds like rape, cabbage, mustard, onion and tomato. I was very interested in learning if tomato could be grown any time throughout the year. After sowing tomato on our learning field, I did the same at my garden at home and followed the good practices that we had learned. I was so amazed that from my small plot of 0.2 hectares I was able to harvest 300 kg from one cropping cycle. I sold about 100kg realizing K5000.00 (US$50).  It is easy to sell my tomatoes because they are of high quality. I used the remaining tomatoes to feed my family. From the profits on the sale of tomatoes, I was able to buy soap, sugar and writing materials for my school going girls and also bought shares at my village savings and loan group to also help boost my sources of income.“

Before joining the project, Divason was only getting 50kg per year of low quality tomatoes and now he is realizing 300kg per year of high quality tomatoes! He is looking forward to increasing his land to 1 hectar in the next growing season. “This time I will make sure that I start irrigation activities as soon as the rain season ends to grow more vegetables several times a year which will also help me realize more profits from my agricultural production.” Explains Divason.

Divason explains some of the agricultural practices he has learned through Farmer Field Schools. “I have learned the importance of following all good agricultural practices to produce high quality tomatoes like applying enough manure while sowing the tomato, mulching the crop to conserve moisture, removing the shoots to improve fruit size and quality and staking the fruit among others.”

Teaching poor rural farmers better ways to produce high quality tomatoes has greatly helped farmers from Masinja village to substantially increase their incomes and improve their families’ living conditions.