In short interviews, seven farmers of the Chereponi Farming Project talk about their lives and how they hope that the project will improve their quality of live. 

The interviews were conducted by Akor Munkaila, project manager and CEO of the new Farming Development Organization (FDO).

 

INUSAH IBRAHIM

Name: Inusah Ibrahim with his wives Adizah and Zeinabu and their children 

Family members: 5 children, 5 adults  

How do you currently earn a living? Do you just harvest enough to feed the family or can you also sell some crops?  

We produce to feed our family. Only when we harvest a surplus, we have the chance to earn some extra money by selling the produce on the market.   

What do you do in the dry season? Do you live off your savings or do you have a small business that allows you to earn an income?  

We don’t have work in the dry season. The women work in the little vegetable garden but mostly it’s not enough to earn money for the family. We live off our savings.  

Do you currently fertilize your fields? Do you use organic or artificial fertilizer?  

Right now we don’t use anything. We don’t have the money for artificial or organic fertilizer. We depend on the support of the FDO.  

Do you know of any other organizations that have similar projects to support the local agriculture?  

We have not received any support from any other organization apart from the Anoshe Women Group and now the FDO.  

Why do you want to participate in the Chereponi Farming Project? How do you hope it will help you?  

I decided to participate because I am convinced that the measures that the FDO plans to implement will help increase our harvest and improve the soil quality of our fields and I think that the support the FDO is offering,  is the right support for us. 

 

BIBATA YUSSIF

Name: Bibata Yussif with her husband Alhassan and their kids 

Family members: 6 children, 4 adults  

How do you currently earn a living? Do you just harvest enough to feed the family or can you also sell some crops?  

If we can, we try to sell some cash crops on the market. But in many years the harvest is not enough to feed or own family.  

What do you do in the dry season? Do you live off your savings or do you have a small business that allows you to earn an income?  

Some of us women have small vegetables gardens a little further out. That helps us earn some money, also in the dry season. But I’s getting hotter every year and it’s getting more difficult to grow vegetables in the dry season. The men don’t work in that time.  

Do you currently fertilize your fields? Do you use organic or artificial fertilizer?  

Yes. I hope to be able to switch to organic fertilizer some day, because it is more sustainable and also cheaper. 

Do you know of any other organizations that have similar projects to support the local agriculture?  

No, I only know of the Anoshe Women Group and now the FDO.   

Why do you want to participate in the Chereponi Farming Project? How do you hope it will help you?  

The FDO tries to help the poor and the needy. Unfortunately I am one of them in my community, so I am happy, that the FDO is willing to give me a chance to earn a living for myself. 

 

SHARATU MUNTALA

Name: Sharatu Mutala and her family 

Family members: 10 children, 5 adults  

How do you currently earn a living? Do you just harvest enough to feed the family or can you also sell some crops?  

Sometimes it’s even hard to feed the family, so no. We don’t harvest enough to sell.   

What do you do in the dry season? Do you live off your savings or do you have a small business that allows you to earn an income?  

In the dry season I earn some money with petty trades. I produce cornfly, the cereals  for Tormbrown, a sort of ready made porridge. 

Do you currently fertilize your fields? Do you use organic or artificial fertilizer?  

Yes, we use artificial fertilizer. But we want to change to organic fertilizer because it is more sustainable and the only chance that our fields will still present a source of income for our children. Also it costs less than artificial fertilizer and is more accessible.  

Do you know of any other organizations that have similar projects to support the local agriculture?  

No, only the Anoshe Women Group. We are very happy that Sabab Lou and the FDO will help us now as well.    

Why do you want to participate in the Chereponi Farming Project? How do you hope it will help you?  

We have seen how much the Anoshe Women have achieved with the support of Sabab Lou. We know they can help us too. We trust them and are willing to work hard so that we can increase the yield and earn some money.  

 

CONGA YAHAYA

Name: Conga Yahaya with Mariama and Rahima, his wives, and his kids 

Family members: 4 children, 3 adults  

How do you currently earn a living? Do you just harvest enough to feed the family or can you also sell some crops?  

Sometimes, but before we can sell anything we have to make sure we have enough to feed the family. That varies from harvest to harvest.    

What do you do in the dry season? Do you live off your savings or do you have a small business that allows you to earn an income?  

My wives have a small vegetable garden that they care for. If we are lucky, we earn some money by selling a few vegetables. But it is not much. And if it’s too hot – and it is getting hotter every year – the heat burns everything and we don’t have any income.  

Do you currently fertilize your fields? Do you use organic or artificial fertilizer?  

As part oft he Chereponi Farming Project we currently use artificial and organic fertilizer. But we hope to switch only to organic fertilizer some day.    

Do you know of any other organizations that have similar projects to support the local agriculture?  

No, we are on our own. We have not had the oportunity of working with any organization except the Anoshe Women Group and now the FDO.  

Why do you want to participate in the Chereponi Farming Project? How do you hope it will help you?  

We decided to participate because we hope that the project will help us increase productivity. The project measures they plan to implement all sound very promising. We hope to learn a lot and ideally the measures will lead to an increase of yield long term.  

 

AISHA MUNKAILA

Name: Aisha Munkaila and family 

Family members: 2 adults, 3 children  

How do you currently earn a living? Do you just harvest enough to feed the family or can you also sell some crops?  

We only produce enough to feed the family, therefore we have nothing we can sell or earn a living with.  

What do you do in the dry season? Do you live off your savings or do you have a small business that allows you to earn an income?  

In the dry season I make a little money by buying grains on the market and then reselling them to the villagers nearby, who don’t have the chance to go to the market.  

Do you currently fertilize your fields? Do you use organic or artificial fertilizer?  

Yes, we use NPK. We have to fertilize the fields, because otherwise, nothing will grow. But we would like to change to organic fertilizer and a sustainable agriculture, because it is less expensive and more accessible.  

Do you know of any other organizations that have similar projects to support the local agriculture? 

No, the Anoshe Women Group is the only organization I have ever worked with. Now I am very happy to join the Farming Development Organization of Akor Munkaila and participate in the Chereponi Farming Project.   

Why do you want to participate in the Chereponi Farming Project? How do you hope it will help you?  

I hope they will help me and my family increase the current yield we harvest from the fields, that allows us to earn an acceptable income so that my children don’t have to live in poverty anymore.  

 

RAMATU IBRAHIM 

Name: Ramatu Ibrahim with her husband Fambali and their children 

Family members: 7 children, 2 adults  

How do you currently earn a living? Do you just harvest enough to feed the family or can you also sell some crops?  

We don’t harvest enough to feed our family, so we have nothing that we can sell on the market or earn a living with.  

What do you do in the dry season? Do you live off your savings or do you have a small business that allows you to earn an income?  

I work in the garden with my children, my husband doesn’t work.   

Do you currently fertilize your fields? Do you use organic or artificial fertilizer?  

Yes we do, but the artificial kind. I hope that the project measures will help restore the soil fertility of our fields and that we can continue with only organic fertilizer, so that we can have healthy food for our children.  

Do you know of any other organizations that have similar projects to support the local agriculture?  

The Anoshe Women Group is the only organization I have ever worked with in the past.  

Why do you want to participate in the Chereponi Farming Project? How do you hope it will help you?  

I decided to participate in the project because I hope that the measures we will implement will help increase the current yield. I hope to finally harvest enough to feed my family and maybe even be able to sell some produce,  so that I can pay the hospital bills for my husband and school fees for my children.   

 

KANDE MOHAMMED

Name: Kande Mohammed with her husband Ibrahim and their children 

Family members: 7 children, 3 adults  

How do you currently earn a living? Do you just harvest enough to feed the family or can you also sell some crops?  

We depend on the produce that we harvest from our fields to feed our family.  

What do you do in the dry season? Do you live off your savings or do you have a small business that allows you to earn an income?  

In the dry season me and my children work in the vegetable garden. Sometimes we are lucky and able to earn some money with the vegetables that also grow in the dry season.  

Do you currently fertilize your fields? Do you use organic or artificial fertilizer?  

We hope to switch to organic fertilizer because it is cheaper and more accessible. That would help a lot. But the quality of our fields is so bad, that right now we have to use artificial fertilizer, because it is more effective.  

Do you know of any other organizations that have similar projects to support the local agriculture?  

No. I have only worked with the Anoshe Women Group in the past.   

Why do you want to participate in the Chereponi Farming Project? How do you hope it will help you?  

The FDO has a great vision, that I support. I am very happy to be working with them now. It will take a lot of effort and extra work, but we have to start improving the soil quality of our fields NOW, otherwise my children won’t have anything to feed their families at some point.