Empower Farmers: Affordable Nutrition Year-Round

This second report presents progress made during the project. The project continues to strengthen household food security, improve nutrition, and increase the resilience of smallholder farmers through sustainable agricultural practices and nutrition-sensitive interventions.

During this period, emphasis was placed on strengthening farmer capacity, expanding year-round food production, supporting household nutrition, and enhancing community participation. Farmers continued to adopt improved farming practices while demonstration sites were used for practical learning. Despite challenges such as e.g. Heavy rainfall, high input costs and pest infestations. Implementation remained on track, with several planned activities successfully completed.

During this period, the project achieved the following:

• Increased participation of smallholder farmers in training programs.
• Improved adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices.
• Expansion of household vegetable production.
• Increased availability of nutritious vegetables.
• Improved knowledge of balanced diets among beneficiary households.
• Strengthened community ownership through active participation of local leaders and farmer groups.

During monitoring, it was observed that there was:

• Increased adoption of compost making and organic soil management.
• Improved vegetable survival rates due to better water management.
• Households reported increased consumption of fresh vegetables.
• Increased sharing of farming knowledge among community members.
• Strong attendance at farmer training sessions.

Implementation of the project so far faced challenges:

• High prices of agricultural inputs.
• Pest and disease outbreaks affect vegetables.
• Limited irrigation facilities during dry periods.
• Transportation constraints affect field monitoring.

One beneficiary established a diversified backyard garden after receiving farmers' training. The family now produces vegetables throughout, reducing expenditure on food while improving dietary diversity. Surplus vegetables are sold within the community; this helps generate additional household income.

Please with your continued support, we will be able to overcome most challenges and continue to empower more farmers and change their livelihoods.

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