The pioneer

The pioneer

Katt Kimsrieng, Cambodia

After 11 years of working in a shoe factory in the Kampong Cham province of Cambodia, Katt Kimsrieng called it a day and decided to return to her family home full-time to look after her ailing elderly mother.

Katt is one of seven children, and even though her job in the factory gave her a secure income that helped support her parents and siblings, she knew in early 2020 that she needed to be by her mother’s side when her health started to fail. ‘It was the worst year of the pandemic, but even though we were not affected by lockdowns, I wanted to go back home to take care of my mother.’

But as her village days stretched, she realized she needed to find a way to supplement her lost income. ‘I looked around our homestead, and there was a plot of my land. Even though I had no experience farming, I decided to try to grow vegetables. I started by planting Chinese cabbage and yardlong beans. I chose these varieties because I needed crops that would only need a small piece of land and were not going to require too much maintenance because I needed to have enough time to look after my mother.’

As an absolute newcomer to vegetable farming, it was tough initially. She had problems with pests and diseases and didn’t have a strategy or plan for water management, fertilizing, seed selection, or scheduling seasonal vegetable production. An additional challenge was being unable to

access information in the village quickly. ‘I was the first person in the village to start growing vegetables; mostly, people grow rice in the district, so there were no other farmers I could talk to.’

But that year, Katt came across East-West Seed field officers who were setting up Knowledge Transfer programs for farmers in the area. In particular, EWS introduced the GAF, ‘Grow Against the Flow’, project. It was about breaking away from conventional ways of farming to equip farmers with new techniques and technologies to adapt better to their growing conditions. It also targeted strategies for off-season farming. Through the program, Katt learned of the benefits of grafting rootstock, building rain shelters, and applying integrated pest management principles that focus on preventative measures as the first line of defense against pests.

Katt says getting access to information, skills, and support made all the difference, and her enthusiasm to learn and apply her newfound knowledge led to her being selected as an EWS key farmer in May 2020. As a key farmer, she grew her yardlong beans and leafy vegetables and recently added tomato plants grown through the grafting method. ‘I got a lot of training, which meant that I learned how to make the most of off-production periods between harvests to still make our family lands productive.’

The 2000 m2 of land her family owned had become a flourishing vegetable haven within a year. Her crops were successful, and finally, she could harvest and have excellent produce to sell. She was surprised by the yield and also by the high quality of what she was able to grow on a small piece of land.

‘I was pleased when I saw the vegetables growing. I knew then that we could have vegetables to sell daily so there would be income all the time,’ she says. Having something in her pocket every day has been better than waiting for the end of the month for her salary, as she had to do when she was a factory worker.

In her first growing cycle, she planted yardlong beans on a piece of

land that was 300 m2 in size. She managed to record a profit that was nearly double her output costs. With the good earnings from her veggie sales, she could buy some chickens and ducks as livestock to further boost the family income. ‘My life feels good now. I’m at home, close to my mom and family. And we also have an income because of the farming,’ says Katt.

There’s no turning back for Katt, who is fast becoming a model farmer. She’s already become involved in skill transfer and loves talking to others in her village and helping to guide them on their journey towards becoming more productive and profitable farmers.

‘It’s been one year now, and I have loved this year of moving from being a factory worker to a farmer. I have gained a lot of knowledge and have excellent relationships with EWS field officers, who are always happy to help and give their advice and solutions. My proudest moments have been when people in the village have come to visit the farm, and they are so impressed with what I have been able to grow here in a small space. It makes me proud, especially since I have been able to achieve all this while being home looking after my mother.’

‘Vegetable farming has helped me in so many ways. I have learnt techniques, which I never would have imagined doing: measuring land or the PH level of the soil… My challenge was marketing my products. I now use my phone. I can post my products online and I can get instant buyers who keep asking for more. It is the best experience of my life. I have one hectare to produce vegetables. My aim is to expand to over 5 hectares within 5 years, like my husband who is a businessman. I influenced him to venture into farming. He has started on 5 hectares and he is getting positive results. If I have children, I want to be a good example and teach them farming so they will choose it as their profession. I urge you young people and my fellow women to try farming, even in a small space, because it will help you in the long run.’

‘I see myself as a developer because I managed to make things better for my family and myself. Vegetable farming has improved our lives.

Together we planned to build a house from the profits we made last season. We also used our

earnings as capital to start our own brick-making business. We have already made 2200 bricks for our house and we got 4 truckloads of building sand. We are now awaiting the floor plan of the house.’

‘In 2021 we started our Marturia Women Farmers group in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. At first, we planted mustard, but we did not quite understand how to do it properly. Our harvest was not so good.

Yayasan Bina Tani Sejahtera, a foundation that targets smallholder farmers in Indonesia, taught us good agricultural practices. Even though our days as housewives are busy, we are excited about learning new things.

After the training, we slowly started to grow other vegetables. Currently, we are growing the Dewata 43 F1 cayenne pepper. We hope to not only get good harvests and a decent income, but also better nutrition for our families.’

‘Many crops are harvested in our area already, so we decided to start with seedlings to support our community.

My husband and I have been gradually introducing our 3 children to seedling management from a young age: how to plant, how to take care of the seedlings, how to harvest them, and how to manage the development of the seedlings, inside and outside the greenhouses. We would like to see them grow and be involved and dedicated to our business so that they can follow up what we are doing.’

has become a window to the world

because we have a new airport just 10 minutes away from our community. Palmerola has a water source that helps us to irrigate our plantation. My son is in charge of the irrigation system and fertilization and I am in charge of doing all the planting work on the farm. We are dedicated to the papaya crop. Vegetable farming has improved our lives. I was able to provide a better education for my son and we could build our own houses.’