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Many farmers in the district village saw significant losses this planting season when the GU rains failed and water for irrigation was scarce. CEFA’s farmers have also faced challenges accessing sufficient water to irrigate their crops, but farmers supported by CEFA have still managed to maintain, if not improve their harvest.
As Dahir Ali Mohamed, 54 a sesame and pulses farmer from Garash village in Jowhar district explains, “Like most of the farmers in the area of Jowhar I adopted the flood irrigation, flooding my field to grow the crops. The cost of sesame seeds was 1 US dollar/Kg and I could afford a bag of 28 Kg to plant them in my plot. I used to sow the sesame seeds randomly without following any techniques on spacing; this is the reason why a great quantity of seeds was wasted. The average yield was 320 Kg of sesame” explains Dahir. “Now I have learned that by following the right techniques, only 6kg of sesame seeds per hectare are required. Following the advice and technical support of CEFA field officers and consultants, the total yield reached is now 640Kg/ha. My income has increased and I have earned 640 US dollars by selling my harvest.”
The midline assessment also found that through a fair beneficiary selection process, particularly supporting the marginalised clans the project has contributed towards peace and stability in the district. As one farmer explained, “This project supported and contributed towards peace in our district in many ways. One example is that this is the first time that beneficiaries were selected from the marginalised clan. According to the district administration this has in turn had a positive impact on community perceptions of the local authority as not discriminating by any clan.
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