Improve Livelihoods of 225 HIV-Affected Families

It has been dry since mid-January this year but our beneficiaries were lucky to have some vegetables in their kitchen garden and in their small ways they tried to do some irrigation to sustain the vegetables for their families’ consumption.  They have been preparing their gardens ready for planting during the expected long rains in April and since it has started to rain in some areas they are now planting.  We have supported some of them with seeds and planting materials and in the course of the week we will be distributing organic fertilizer to them.  They count themselves lucky since they were able to get vegetables from their kitchen gardens for the entire dry spell and they have expressed appreciation to Necofa for training them simple but useful urban gardening techniques which have enabled them survive during the dry spell.  We are still considering trainings on value addition to the beneficiaries and this will build their capacity in one or the other.  Those near the youth polytechnics have been learning from them on various farming methods, value addition and agribusiness among others.  These skills and techniques have helped them improve their kitchen gardens as well as sharing information with others on sustainable farming for food security even during dry seasons.  Some beneficiaries are using their kitchen gardens as demonstration sites which are very positive.  We are happy that together with our well-wishers we have created a positive impact and we believe we will achieve even more with our beneficiaries and the community at large.