Anderson

Anderson, his wife and four children reside in the remote and drought ridden village of Dambabasaha in Binga district,
He is one of many beneficiaries of the Agricultural Value Chain project funded by BESTSELLER FOUNDATION.

Anderson is a farmer and secretary of his local village committe. He and his family are the happy owners of 8 Ha of land, on which they grow maize, cowpeas, cotton, red sorghum and sesame -the last three being their main source of income.  They also oversee 10 goast, 23 chickens , two cows and three oxes which they uses to plow hs fields.

Embracing contract farming
Through the Agri Value Chain project implemented by DanChurchAid and Christian Care,  Anderson has learnt of contract farming - a setup where farmers are guaranteed a minimum price upon delivering certain amounts to commercial buyers on an annual basis.  The past year, he has been delivering his cotton harvest to a commerical consortium that buys cotton from his area.

Anderson is troubled to see how climate changes are having a negative impact on his farming -  irregular rains, eroding soil in his area.  Secondly, his village’s remote location and the lack of storrage facilities, means that he is forced to sell his grain crops at times when the market is often flooded and prices are less favorable .

The Agri-value chain project is encouraging villagers to grow more drough resistant crops in order to strenghten their food security and supports the villagers collective efforts to bulk their harvested crops so that they can negotiate better prices  when the buyers arrive.