The mobilizer

The mobilizer

Martin Frederick, Tanzania

No one should ever struggle to have enough food to eat – that is how Martin Frederick Kisamba feels about what’s missing in today’s society. The former Red Cross worker focused primarily on ensuring children’s welfare. He hails from a village near Nyandekwa in the Shinyanga region in Tanzania and has always believed in finding sustainable ways out of poverty for more people. Over the past four years, he has become convinced that smallholder farming can be an essential key to releasing new abundance – or at least help keeping more people from going hungry.

It was in 2018, that he was invited to a farming demonstration day in Nyandekwa hosted by SEVIA, a partnership initiative between Wageningen University & Research in The Netherlands, East-West Seed, and Rijk Zwaan, a Dutch-based seed company, to promote sustainable small-scale farming in the country.

Seeing what was possible on a small demonstration farm got his attention. ‘I was very motivated also to try farming for myself because they showed that this could be something for everyone, even on a small plot.’

He went home and, weeks later, decided to buy four acres of land. He dug two boreholes and started planting. Two years later, when the SEVIA program ended, he reached out to EWS directly to continue learning better techniques for his farm. The extension officer he worked with at the time convinced him to concentrate on tomato plants as a new starting

point for his farm. ‘I started with two grams of tomato IMARA F1 from EWS, and I produced 573 seedlings in 250 m2. I was impressed with what I could do on such a small patch. I had a lot of success by following the technical guide of field preparation that included trellising of crops, following fertilizer schedules, keeping up to date farm records, and applying what I learned about managing pests and diseases.’

As his tomatoes flourished, they turned into sales and a healthy profit. As time went by, he could expand to other vegetables and fruits, including peppers, okra, cucumber, carrots, and watermelon.

Martin’s success and newfound farming knowledge spurred him on to share this with others. ‘Though this is a small farm, I succeeded in mobilizing more than 136 farmers for training and experience sharing. Most of the people from that group have already adopted improved techniques in vegetable cultivation, and some have started setting up their fields.’

He is pleased that there have been many youths among those who took up the opportunity to learn about farming. Taking care of the land and working on land sustainably for the benefit of more people is what the father of three also wants to instill in his children as they grow up.

He still sees himself as a bridge builder and a connector of people, helping more farmers recognize how being part of a community makes them stronger in getting access to suppliers, new markets, and the technical expertise and support of the likes of the East-West Seed teams. It is the innate spirit of volunteerism kicking in.

Going forward, he would like to continue being able to help reach new farmers and to support established farmers to keep enhancing their skills, be more self-sufficient and grow to be agribusiness success stories. He also encourages East-West Seed to host more events and training workshops and to set up more demonstration farms to enlarge their footprint in the country. It’s the old SEVIA motto of ‘seeing is believing’ that he says is powerful in capturing people’s attention and letting them experience

the potential of farming for themselves.

His success has seen him able to build his own home for his wife and three children and to be a pillar of strength for his parents and extended family. He’s also put profits back into his farms. He has managed to install pumps and an irrigation system for increased efficiency because he used to have to employ extra farm laborers to water the crops by hand. He’s also branched out to farm chickens and is exploring market opportunities for new produce and looking into how he might be able to be part of an export food chain. ‘I’m hoping in the next few years to expand my farm and to be able to buy more farming equipment and to have more assets like a house that I can rent out.’

For Martin, the future is looking brighter, and he says he’s a living example of what can be done with some capital, land, and labor and building the networks. ‘We know that the biggest challenge in our country is poverty, and we cannot wait for the government or donors to change the situation. We have to do this for ourselves, and farming is one simple, direct way to beat poverty and hunger.’

Agustinus, Indonesia

‘Because we live in a village, the most important thing is meeting the family’s daily vegetable needs.

Before the training by Yayasan Bina Tani Sejahtera and the help of East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer, I didn’t know how to take care of my plants properly.

I can tell the difference between pests and diseases and apply fertilizers in the right way. If there is an excess supply of vegetables, we sell them and earn money. I hope that in the future, there will be many young people who will also become farmers to meet the need for local vegetables.’

‘Since the time of my great-great-grandparents my family has been dedicated to agriculture. So am I.

Sometimes things don’t work out the way you want. Agriculture taught me perseverance. Never give up on your goals or your dreams. There will be a reward in the end, it will always be worthwhile.

Seeing my fields in the evenings motivates me and makes me proud. And I am proud to give employment to the people of my town, that I help them to put food on their tables. It is important to me to not let down those who help me. That is my big satisfaction.’