A Farmer Leader
Malawi – Enet Nkasikwa, 2013 ARI Graduate
Graduates introduce their ARI learning to their communities in a different ways. One approach I have seen often is just to work their own farm using the organic techniques they learned at ARI. It sounds almost too simple, but let me tell you what happens. Day after day, when the neighbors pass by, they notice that that person who went to Japan is doing something different, and keep a wary, but curious eye out. In time, they see that the crops are looking good and casually walk over to ask, hey, why are those crops looking so good? This is a critical moment, an entry point to start teaching, because they are ready to learn something new. I call graduates who use this tactic “Farmer Leaders,” and Enet Nkasikwa (2013 Graduate from Malawi) is one of them. The first person she trained after ARI was her husband, Steven, and together they began making compost and bokashi and stopped buying chemical fertilizers. The yield was lower in the beginning, but they persisted, and by the third season their harvest was more than when they started. “Enet transformed me!” claimed Steven.
The transformation didn’t end there. The neighbors were amazed at what they were seeing on Enet’s land and came to ask her what she was doing. She taught them about compost and other organic methods she had learned at ARI, and they started trying these in their own fields. Nearly every villager rears livestock so there is plenty of manure around to make good compost. Before, they threw it away, but now it has become a prized commodity. Some have even started selling it! Enet and her family’s small farm are making a big impact.
The other person Enet shared her ARI learning with immediately after coming home was her good friend, Esther Lubani, whom she calls her “First Farmer.” Under Enet’s tutelage, Esther started raising goats, for the milk, the meat, and … the manure. The goats are kept in a homemade pen with a raised floor. Keeping the them above the ground is more hygienic and makes it easy to gather the droppings, which fall through the purposefully placed cracks between the boards. You can immediately see when farmers have stopped relying on commercial fertilizers by how much they value animal poop. Esther now has 45 goats and uses their manure in her corn field. Yields improved faster than expected and this year she harvested 92 bags of maize on two acres, despite the drought. She proudly showed me these nearly bursting sacks piled inside her house. The neighbors have taken notice and come to her to know how she got a good harvest despite the poor rains.
Esther is deeply grateful to Enet for “improving lives right in the village.” “We did not hesitate to try Enet’s methods,” explains Esther, “because she was doing the same thing in her own fields.” This last statement from Esther showed me how much positive influence a “farmer leader” can have in a community. It is a powerful approach.
A Farmer Leader
by Steven Cutting
Graduate Outreach – Asian Rural Institute