Kilosa livelihood project leaves a mark on farmers
What you need to know:
Through the initiative farmers have been trained on how to use modern seeds and follow all the agricultural procedures including preparing their farms on time, something that has ultimately improved yields.
Kilosa. More than 1000 rice and sunflower farmers in Kilosa have benefited through a livelihood project that has empowered them to improve their incomes and food security.
Through the initiative farmers have been trained on how to use modern seeds and follow all the agriculture procedures including preparing their farms on time, something that has ultimately improved yields.
The project which is being supervised by World Vision Tanzania is intended to free residents from poverty by ensuring they have enough food and increase household income.
According to one farmer, Salumu Mwalimu before the project a number of farmers were using old seeds that produced low yields which ultimately left most of them in poverty.
"Before the project I was cultivating two acres of land that only yielded six bags of rice and after deducting all the resources used in the production there was no profit and sufficient food to sustain my family," he said.
However, he noted that this year after the project was introduced he harvested 15 bags from half an acre.
Mr Mwalimu said many farmers still use the old seed and as a result suffer losses and that is why food shortage remains a problem for them.
Mr Elisei Chilala the coordinator for livelihood project in Kilosa says there are 45 farmers who received training on how to use modern agricultural methods.
He said each trainer was assigned to train 30 farmers in the area where currently a large number have benefited in the past one year.
"Our goal is to ensure food security for families something that many have achieved," he said adding that the evaluation they have done has shown that many have benefited and are now farming successfully.
