Alick Kamanga is a Lead Farmer

Alick Kamanga is a Lead Farmer leading Mary Litche’s group since 2020. Alick is trained by the Project’s Field Officers and then in turn goes to train his nine Follower Farmers. Born and raised in this community, Alick knows the challenges affecting people in this community and has seen many changes that the Project has brought.

He says, “I saw the communities struggling with hunger because of poor yields, but now this is history. Farmers have been trained and are now applying these practices on their farms which have significantly improved food security. Without the Project we would have never known about pits or other practices, and we would have continued to struggle with hunger.”

The Lead Farmers notes that Mary Litche is one of the star performers in his group. Her dedication and desire to see her family food secure is an inspiration to many. Alick says Mary eagerly participates in trainings and is an early adopter of various practices she learns from the project.

“Since she was trained,” Alick says, “Mary started using pits and manure which led her to have bumper yield on the same piece of land which was unproductive before. Furthermore, she has a backyard garden where she plants different kinds of vegetables at her home every year as she learned from the project. This brings more than enough food for her household, and she sells some of the maize and vegetables, to compliment the money she earns from her VSLA group. No wonder she has achieved food and income security at her household.”