Kitara Thomas

Garden is my home!! Kitara Thomas is a 22 years old from Palabek, Lamwo District. He received information from a friend about a certain project that was recruiting beneficiaries from his village. He went for the recruitment process where he was successfully enrolled. He was later put in a group of 28 members where they received training in group dynamics, VSLA and sustainable agriculture.

‘’I was excited to learn the project was to promote vegetable growing, this is because our father raised us farming where I gained skills in vegetable growing’’. He says he decided to grow Sukuma wiki because it is harvested continuously over months so he visioned earning for months. ‘’ I now spend my time in the garden watering and harvesting my Sukuma wiki for sale and consumption unlike before where I spent most of my time gambling’’. He says there is reduced malnutrition in his household due to increased consumption of local vegetables. He also supplies the local market with his vegetable. On average he earns a minimum of Ugx 110,000 per month especially in dry season when production is low. This has also increased his saving in his group. He wants to diversify growing other varieties the coming rainy season and raise money for purchasing a simple irrigation scheme to increase his production during dry season. He concluded that ‘’in order to live off a garden you practically have to live in it’’.