Kitara Thomas's story

Kitara Thomas

“I now spend my time in the garden watering and harvesting my Sukuma wiki for sale and consumption unlike before where I spent most of my time gambling.”

Kitara Thomas is a 22-year-old from Palabek in Lamwo District. He heard from a friend about a project recruiting beneficiaries in his village and successfully enrolled. He later joined a group of 28 members who received training in group dynamics, VSLA and sustainable agriculture. Kitara was excited to learn that the project promoted vegetable growing because his father had raised the family through farming, where he gained skills in vegetable production. He chose to grow Sukuma wiki because it can be harvested continuously over several months, giving him a steady income opportunity. He now spends his time watering and harvesting vegetables for sale and household consumption. The increased consumption of local vegetables has helped reduce malnutrition in his household, and he supplies the local market with produce. On average, he earns at least UGX 110,000 per month, especially during the dry season when production is low, and his savings in the group have increased. He plans to diversify into other vegetable varieties in the next rainy season and raise money to purchase a simple irrigation system to increase dry-season production. As Kitara says, in order to live off a garden, you practically have to live in it.