Strenthening and Transforming families in rurals

Another planting season has begun, and our beneficiaries are eagerly preparing their farms. This year, we are supporting 120 widows with agricultural inputs to help them grow food for their families and improve their livelihoods.

Our agricultural empowerment model continues to show encouraging results. Last year, we worked with 90 widows divided into three groups:

• 30 widows who had successfully graduated from the program and were purchasing their own farm inputs.
• 30 widows receiving their final year of support before transitioning out of the program.
• 30 new widows receiving support for the first time.

Today, we are delighted to report that all four groups are progressing well. Two groups have now been fully empowered and are independently purchasing their own farm inputs through savings accumulated over the years. Another group is graduating from the program this year, while a new group has joined and is receiving support for the first time.

Even after graduation, the empowered groups continue to participate in our meetings and farmer support activities. They now purchase their farm inputs using their own savings, giving them confidence and security as each planting season approaches. They no longer worry about how they will afford seeds and fertilizer, and they are able to plan for the future with greater independence.

Most importantly, these households are producing enough maize and beans, the staple foods in our community, to feed their families throughout the year. Having a reliable supply of food has significantly reduced hunger and strengthened the wellbeing of children and other dependents within these households.

This year, our program will directly benefit more than 1,200 people across 120 households, while an additional 500 people will benefit indirectly through improved household food security and economic stability. We are grateful to report that most of the widows we serve are now free from chronic hunger and are better able to care for their children and families.

Looking ahead, we plan to add another group of widows within the next two years, increasing the number of women served to 150 out of the 400 widows currently on our waiting list. With additional support, we could expand even further and reach many more vulnerable households in a shorter period of time.

We remain deeply grateful for your partnership and encouragement. We invite you to continue sharing the impact of this work with your family, friends, and networks. Together, we can empower more widows, strengthen more families, and create lasting change in the lives of vulnerable children and communities.

As the new year unfolds, we are delighted to report that the widows in our program now have enough food to sustain their families through the dry season and into the next harvest. The dry season is always the most difficult time of year. Many families often go to bed hungry and wake up with nothing to eat because there are no manual farm jobs available during this period.

Most of the widows depend on income earned from farm labor. When the dry season comes and work is no longer available, it becomes extremely difficult for them to provide food for their families. Thanks to this program, however, we are witnessing a remarkable transformation, not only in the lives of our beneficiaries, but across the wider community. The change in these households has been truly encouraging.

Children are happy and attending school consistently. Their health has improved significantly, and hospital visits have become rare. The farm inputs provided to the widows have demonstrated that, with the right support, they can grow enough food to feed their children and extended families. Most importantly, there is no longer a need for children to leave home and live in institutions due to food insecurity.

As we enter another season, we are preparing our farms for planting. January was extremely hot, with temperatures reaching up to 37°C. We were grateful to receive two days of rain in the first week of February, which greatly helped us begin land preparation. We anticipate starting planting at the end of March, and we are ready with the necessary farm inputs for the widows.

We are also excited to welcome a new group into the program. Additionally, one of the earlier groups will now be purchasing their own farm inputs from their savings. This means we now have two groups that are self-reliant. They have built their own savings and continue to save diligently to ensure they can sustain their farming activities independently.

Thank you for supporting this impactful program that is bringing lasting change. We are continuing to share this vision with more partners so that we can run two groups simultaneously and reach even more widows in need.