A Global Service Corps Sustainable Agriculture Success Story

  Editors note: The Kitomaris are a Tanzanian family who learned about bio-intensive agriculture through training provided by Global Service Corps sustainable agriculture program.

The Kitomaris have six children, which they will struggle to put through school. In recent years the imperative of intensification has increased as farm sizes have become smaller through passing parcels to children. Few families live in traditional houses, and family sizes are getting smaller. This imperative has caused the Kitomaris to become fully converted to bio-intensive agriculture. Behind the Kitomari farmstead is a garden with eight large compost piles 2×1 meters square. Here, the Kitomaris share the secret of their success, and the reason they get so many visitors. In 2002, with the help of Global Service Corps volunteers, they learned to make compost and how to utilize it in ‘deep dug beds.

“We were so amazed to see what a difference the compost and deep-dug vegetable beds made in our farm. We stopped using chemicals. We soon had too many vegetables and our neighbors began to come to buy from us in the dry season when they had no gardens. This was the start of a small revolution on our farm.”

Soon their farm had drawn the interest of visitors from Heifer International, and the Kitomaris became farmer motivators in fish and goats. The latter helped them to increase their compost-making to much more than they needed on their small farm, so they began to sell it!  How strange that anyone would make a business of selling compost, but at Tsh 20,000 per pile it has proven to be a good income generator.

The Nambala neighborhood now knows that they can get advice if they want to dig their own deep-dug vegetable beds. While at first, it seems like a lot of hard work Mr. Kitomari says, “once the beds are established, they last for three years without re-plowing, and they don’t stop producing. We follow one crop with another and they use so little water compared to our old system.”

Using the techniques taught by Global Service Corps, the Kitomaris have seven beds which produce abundant green vegetables for their meals, and they sell green, organic vegetables to their neighbors all through the year!

 Photo: Mr. Kitomari on his families farm

Reflections from a sustainable agriculture volunteer

Editors note: Lauren participated in Global Service Corps sustainable agriculture program in the summer of 2008. Thanks for the post Laura!           

 

 

Two months ago, I was sitting on a huge airplane with my eyes closed and feet anxiously tapping the floor below me. As we roared down the runway, I tried to remain calm but instead I was second guessing my desire to travel to Tanzania and volunteer with Global Service Corps (GSC), a nonprofit organization that emphasizes international health, HIV/AIDS education and sustainable agricultural techniques. I barely knew how to say hello in Swahili, had never traveled alone, and was always a little nervous to fly, especially when it came to take off. In fact, I was so nervous to fly that I repeated the word “safe” over and over in my head as the flight attendants passed through the cabin prior to departure, assuring the pilot that all passengers had their seatbelts safely fastened. I was jealous of their relaxed attitudes and wished I could just fall asleep like the snoring woman next to me who did not wake until our aircraft landed in another continent. When I was brave enough to look out the window, the airplane was already encircled by clouds and I could not believe that we had left the ground…it felt as though we were still on the runway! From that point on, my breathing eased, I stopped repeating the word safe, and was finally able to sit back, relax and enjoy the twenty hour flight to Tanzania.

 

            Upon arriving in Tanzania, I was greeted by a GSC representative who drove me to the hostel I would be staying at during my initial training. These first few days were exciting and informative. I was taught primarily about sustainable agricultural methods but also learned about the growing problem of HIV/AIDS throughout Tanzania. As a volunteer, I would be spreading my knowledge concerning agriculture and nutrition to various community members, but it was essential to receive training myself before helping others. I worked alongside a Tanzanian counterpart named Javasson for a week and my training occurred both in the classroom and outside in the demonstration farming plot. This method of learning was beneficial because I first learned about the theory behind particular practices and then ventured outside to put the practices in action. With some help, I made a standard sized compost pile, dug a double-dig garden bed, built a sack garden, and made a natural pesticide spray from papayas. During these activities, Javasson explained that proper farming techniques not only improve overall crop yield and increase plant health, but also indirectly benefit human health as well. Organic vegetables and fruits grown without the addition of chemical pesticides are better for the environment and for our own bodies.

 

            In addition to learning sustainable agriculture techniques, Mama Betty, a lady with HIV/AIDS came to talk to the volunteers about the importance of nutrition and its role in preventing further symptoms of the disease. She explained that those suffering from HIV/AIDS often feel weak and helpless. Although she felt this way when originally diagnosed with the disease, she claimed that proper nutrition such as a diet rich in vegetables, has allowed her to regain the strength necessary to continue with her daily routine. Mama Betty advocated the addition of sack gardens to homes for HIV+ people. Sack gardens are low maintenance and various types off immune-boosting produce can be grown and incorporated into meals and/or tea to allow for better nutrition. Mama Betty was extremely open and I appreciate her willingness to share her story.