Hardworking Hope: Family Farmers Transform Markets

The Agriculture for Children’s Empowerment (ACE), an activity under the FIELD-Support LWA’s STRIVE program, has introduced the Farmer Financial Diary (FFD) tool which is helping farmers get a leg up by teaching them to better manage their farms as businesses. Applying a three-pronged approach of crop diversity, production management, and linkages to markets, along with the availability of a demonstration treadle pump for irrigation, the FFD gives farmers the power to make better decisions.

ACE engaged Richard and Martha Duo, as well as their childen, to plant more than rice and a plot of bitter ball. Within two and a half years, Richard and Martha Duo developed three to five acres of fields of cucumbers, okra, watermelons, maize, sweet potatoes, and a variety of greens. They came to fully understand that to support their family and make a profit, they must keep good records that include planting times, varieties planted, timely weeding, inputs, and sales. The Duos see the impact of the business and crop production training daily.