Update on the farm
The maize fields have been planted for a couple of months. The rain continues to fall. The stalks are growing to great heights.
After the sale of their harvest, they set aside money for fertilizer for the next growing season. In challenging years they are often choosing between saving the money for fertilizer or using it for food.
A 50 kilogram bag of chemical fertilizer sells at about 20 thousand kwacha, or close to $30.
Driving through the countryside you can easily spot the fields that have not had enough fertilizer. The stalks are shorter and have more yellow in the leaves. In the end, the under fertilized fields will produce smaller harvests.
It is a huge win for this family that has made great decisions setting them up for a prosperous year.
Footprints 
Interesting! Most parts of Uganda do not use fertilizers for their crops, especially those like corn.
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There are many that don’t use fertilizer in Malawi too. In some locations the ground is so depleted after years and years of the same crop, that they aren’t able to harvest as much. Many of the villages we work with are taught to make their own fertilizer to boost their production. This family has been able to produce more using fertilizer the last few years, and we are very happy about that.
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That is true about most African subsistence farmers who cultivate the same crop over and over again, without ever switching spots or letting the land rejuvenate its nutrients.
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These people have such difficult choices that it’s hard for us to appreciate them.
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So true.
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I think to be a farmer must be quite challenging … whether they’ve made the right decisions, might only show in a couple of months. Hats off to these guys 👍🏻.
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It will be exciting to see how the decision plays out. Looking forward to posting the results of the harvest.
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[…] A winning strategy on the maize farm […]
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