“I am happy to be a Momentum farmer. Momentum has taken me somewhere and will still take me higher”.
Joseph is a farmer veteran. He is 62 years old and has been a farmer for most of his life. However, Joseph thinks that human beings always can develop and believes that it is never to late to learn new things. Since he joined Momentum, he has learned how to intercrop, prepare land and space his crops correctly. Joseph is excited about learning new techniques through Momentum and says: “The training has been good. The training has taught me the value of doing things properly”.
As is often the case in Kenya, land is inherited and passed down in the family through generations, which is also the case with farmer Joseph. Likewise, farming techniques are also passed down, which is why Joseph has never received any formal training prior to his cooperation with Momentum. Because farmer Joseph never received any agricultural training he never seemed to be able to maximize the outcome of his fields before he joined Momentum. Today Joseph can see the outcome of receiving competent and qualified training, directly on his fields and he emphasizes that without the training farmers will not be able to succeed.
Joseph has eight children whom all have been able to complete primary school because of his revenue: “Before I never used to get more than 2 bags. This season I will be selling one or two bags. This is a great difference, which I believe is because of the training I have received from the Momentum trainers. Because I am now a trained farmer I farm much better, even though I was a farmer for twenty years before I got to know about Momentum Trust”.
Farmer Joseph has a dream to one day to be able to generate enough surpluses from his farm that he will be able to start a project in his community, he will be remembered for in the future. Farmer Joseph also has a hope to expand into pig farming and poultry farming – not before he receives the right training though!