Tadelech Lachemo: Reaping 10 times what was sown

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Photo: Africa RISING

I’m a female household head, and I took part in the Potato seed multiplication project in June 2014. I was given 700kg of improved potato variety, called Gudene. I joined the Africa RISING field day experience in my village, and selected the potato variety based on what I saw that day.

In the first year of my involvement in the project I produced about 7,000kg of potato, and paid back the 700 kg of improved seed that I received from the project a year earlier. I earned about 23,000 Birr (US$1,000) from the sale of my produce to other farmers in the area. I set the market price of 500 Birr (US$23) per 100 kg in consultation with the Africa RISING project and local government administrators.

I sold part of my crop to four other female household farmers for a 20% discount so they could also have more opportunity like me. I gave my family 400 kg of potato seed and donated 300 kg to some of the poorest farmers who couldn’t buy the seed.

I planted my potato on just a quarter hectare of land. My family consumed about 1,000kg of potato during the cropping season, which helps with our dietary diversity. From the money I received from the sale of the potato seed, I contributed money towards the construction of my son’s house, about 10,000 Birr (US$465).

The Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation (Africa RISING) program comprises three research-for-development projects supported by the United States Agency for International Development as part of the U.S. government’s Feed the Future initiative.

 Through action research and development partnerships, Africa RISING will create opportunities for smallholder farm households to move out of hunger and poverty through sustainably intensified farming systems that improve food, nutrition, and income security, particularly for women and children, and conserve or enhance the natural resource base.

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africa, CIPOTATO
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