Alice Juma Joined Agwenda Women Input Loan Initiative (AWILI) in 2021. Ever-since she joined she has been increasing her input loan package yearly and practicing Good Agricultural Practices. Her productivity and incomes have been steadily increasing thereby improving her household socio-economic status. She is now able to support her household and has some extra money for savings.
Alice Juma, born in 1982, married with six children is a member of Chitenje Club, group village headman Kalusa 3, Traditonal Authority Kalimanjira in Linga EPA, Nkhotakota. In 2021, she attended Agwenda Women Input Loan Initiative (AWILI) program sensitization and registration meetings. She took 75 grams of chillies seed, 5kgs of rice seed and a bag of 50 kg fertilizer from AWILI and she managed to produce 25 bags of rice (each bag weighing 50 kgs). While in the past she would only harvest less than 9 bags of rice. She has sold 15 bags of rice realising $270 of revenue, enough to purchase iron sheets to fit 2/3 of her grass thatched house she is apparently dwelling in.
Alice recalls that ”In the past before joining AWILI i used to produce less than 9 bags of 50 kgs of rice because i used to plant recycled rice seeds due to lack of access to certified seed and capital to buy certified seeds at the beginning of the rainy season. With the coming of AWILI which have have attained knowledge and skills on SRI(System of rice intensification) and have been offered frequent farm advisory services. AWILI has introduced me to high yielding varieties of Kirombero from SeedCo and i have harvested 25 bags more from the same field plot as compared to last year. This year rice quality has improved and has high flavour as compared to last season and the field officers could frequently visit us right in my rice field and offer farming advice.
Alice can ably pay school tuition for her 2 children who are at Chididi CDSS and buy new school uniforms and other clean clothes for them to attend school. Her recent purchase is a push bike for home use and also easily takes her children to school, 7 kilometers away
Alice Juma’s last remarks about AWILI program, she said ”Even though i have not bought enough iron sheets yet i am confident that i will buy all the iron sheets i need during my next next harvest and sales with AWILI. Through AWILI I have learnt that there is strength in belonging to a group and there is economies of scales”, she added. ”From the financial trainings provided by AWILI and with the earnings from rice, this year am planing to produce more rice and use the money to buy 1/3 of the irone sheets ramining, 1 cattle and 4 goats.” She explained.