Caren Adhiambo is among farmers in Migori County who are ditching tobacco farming to focus on sustainable farming.
Alongside other small-scale farmers, they are turning to organic farming as a way to improve food security and ensuring sustainable agriculture.
This comes after decades of cultivating tobacco.
Here is her story as told by WoK.
Adhiambo lives in Suna East within Migori County where she owns a two-acre piece of land.
A section of the land hosts her homestead while the rest is her small farm where she has planted a variety of crops including bananas.
In an interview with Citizen TV, Adhiambo noted that they reached the decision to quit tobacco farming some three years ago.
“When we started doing bananas, I wasn’t sure if my son would agree with the idea because for tobacco we would harvest once and receive payments after waiting for almost an year,” she said.
With the help of a non-profit, she was able to shift from tobacco farming and expand her farm although in small scale.
“We have a support group where we get adviceon the right fertilizers to use and what to frow depending on the season. We do all types of crops,” Adhiambo added.
According to Hamisi Hassan, a project facilitator for Ripple Effect, an NGO, she encouraged Adhiambo to ditch tobacco income due to its health hazards among other effects.
“When I first met Caren, she told me her story with tobacco and I realized it was causing health hazards and it was not giving her enough income and because she could not feed on tobacco, it meant she had problems accessing nutritious food,” he said.
As such, Hamisi said he encouraged Adhiambo to try other alternatives including organic farming.
“Productions of crops organically is friendly to the environment and it won’t cause any problems to the livestock and plants in that environment,” he said.
Hamisi also believes that by engaging in organic farming, farmers enjoy benefits for a longer period before the land is exhausted.
Aside from bananas, Adhiambo also grows pawpaws and vegetables like kales, and keeps poultry and other livestock.
