From Struggle to Self-Reliance: Sabella’s Story
My name is Sabella Kaburi Muchege from Thangatha village, Thiiti location, Mukothima ward. I am 52 years old married to one husband John Mushege in 1992 and we are blessed with five children, three boys and two girls and they have joined tertiary education pursuing different courses.
When I started my family we used to farm in 1 acre of land which was an inheritance and life was difficult considering none of us was employed. Rainfall was scarce and we could not get enough produce from the farm. So we decided to keep indigenous goat and cows to improve our income. I used to harvest 1 bag of cowpeas and green grams and 4 bags of sorghum in the farm. One of our church members whom we worship with invited me to their group in which they were practising conservation agriculture after having been trained by NCCK. We observed that crops on the farms where CA was being practiced were healthier and more productive compared to ours. I was lucky to join the CA project phase 2 cohort three as the lead farmer for Kaguuni women group in 2020 that had a total of 14 women.
We were trained on CA principles like mulching, intercropping, crop rotation, minimum tillage, agroforestry and farmer managed natural regeneration (FMNR). Applying these principles have seen productivity on my farm significantly increase. I can manage to harvest 18 bags of 100kg of sorghum, 8 bags of 100kg of cow peas and 7 bags of green grams in one acre of land. I also plant groundnuts, maize and millet though in small scale. Currently, I have managed to buy 10 acres of land, constructed permanent house and paying school fees for my children comfortably.
I appreciate NCCK for training on how to eradicate poverty and become food secure in my family.
