MAIZE YIELDS FOR THE 2022 MAIN SEASON CROP GROWN IN SIX VILLAGES IN OMORO DISTRICT BY WOMEN FARMERS WHO HAD BEEN TRAINED IN BETTER FARMING METHODS FOR SIX MONTHS BY A ROTARY INTERNATIONAL GLOBAL GRANT PROJECT
RESULTS:
- Comparison of maize yields for two main season crops for six villages showed that yields increased by an average of 26 percent after the women farmers had been trained in better farming methods for six months.
CONCLUSIONS:
- Training of subsistence-level women farmers in better farming methods likely resulted in an increase in maize yield.
CHALLENGES:
- Poor access to land limited total production, for which additional labor was available.
- Lack of mechanisation required investing of huge amounts of labor by women farmers who also have other duties.
- Lack of grain storage space forced women farmers to sell their crops at harvest time, when there was a glut on the market, although they could get much higher prices if they could store the grain two to four months until prices stabilize.
RECOMMENDATIONS BY AWE:
- Build a storage structure for grain.
- Mechanise land preparation, seeding and harvest.