Meet Aneth, a wife, mother of 6, grandmother to 30 and most of all, a proud farmer. She lives at Ukwile village in Mbozi together with her husband and 3 of her young grandchildren. They live on a 4-acre farm, where she grows maize, groundnuts and common beans.
Aneth joined Kizazi Cha Mabadiliko program after a youth champion told her about the benefits of the program. Back then, information on improved seeds was scarce, however, Mbozi Highland Seed Company established a demonstration plot in her village. Aneth was among those who attended the event and witnessed the newly improved groundnut seeds. She then started listening to Kizazi Cha Mabadiliko weekly radio shows where she learned about the attributes of improved groundnut seeds, viable business opportunities in groundnuts and quality standard of marketable groundnuts.
In October 2022, Aneth took the next step by joining Kizazi Cha Mabadiliko program and was immediately allocated to a group consisting her friends and neighbors. Together they received 4 training sessions, namely Introduction to Kizazi Cha Mabadiliko, good agronomic practices in groundnut farming (which includes description about new improved seed varieties), financial literacy and market accessibility (which includes quality standards of groundnuts preferred by off takers). She then received a flier and a booklet on Kizazi Cha Mabadiliko and practical information on good agronomic practices. These have played a crucial role in her success as they act as a point of reference and help her to transfer knowledge to her fellow farmers.
To get started Aneth ordered and received 32kg of improved groundnuts variety Mnange 2009 from Pavig Agro Seed Company. To afford the improved groundnut seeds, Aneth sold two bags of local groundnuts from the previous season’s harvest that she had stored to be used as seed for the next season. Together with her group members they received a contact list of all groundnut seed companies in Mbozi and outside Mbozi. They however prefer Pavig Agro due to great price and free delivery up to the Youth Quality Centre in Ukwile ward.
Like other early adopters in her village, Aneth intends to try out the improved seeds this season and assess their performance to determine whether the investment is worth it. Despite low yield from local variety, Aneth prefers the white local variety for food. “For me, I don’t think I can ever stop using the white local groundnuts seed because it is very delicious when prepared for food, however for business purposes I am going to try the new variety”. She said. Aneth was also quoted saying “I decided to purchase and try out this improved groundnut seeds called Mnange because I was told it will increase my yield, resist diseases and resist drought in case the rains are not good’.
