Kilimanjaro, TZ – Family Taking Advantage of Prime Location to Generate Garden Profits

The SDM family consists of two parents and five children. Before starting their garden the family made around 6,000 TZS (US $3.52) per week from their livestock and small farm. They started their organic vegetable garden with Lishe Bora at the end of November, 2014.

The family harvested their first vegetables in January, 2015. They report enjoying eating a variety of vegetables, especially chinese cabbage. The only vegetable the family doesn’t enjoy eating is Amaranthus. Regardless of what they are harvesting, they are excited to be eating vegetables on a daily basis.

The family garden seems remote at first. It is far from the center of town and most days very few people pass by the garden. However, the garden is conveniently located on the footpath that many people use to visit the local market twice per week. On market days there is constant foot-traffic passing the garden and the SDM family is able to sell an average of 7,000 TZS (US $4.12) per week.

Out of this weekly income, the family spends 2,000 TZS (US $1.18) per week on milk for their children. Once or twice per month they purchase meat for Sunday dinner and the rest of the money goes towards school supplies and basic necessities. The parents are very excited about the addition of vegetables, milk, and meat to their children’s diets.

The SDM family is very interested in becoming self-reliant with their garden as soon as possible. They already tried starting a nursery but did not construct a good fence so dogs got in and destroyed the area. They plan on trying again with a better fence and expanding their garden so they can grow and sell more vegetables.

If they can establish a steady income stream the family dreams of enabling all five children to attend secondary school and getting a clean water connection at their home. Currently they can use a stream near their garden for irrigation, but they have to walk 200 meters to get water for drinking, cooking, and bathing. The family would also like to improve their kitchen to create a safer, more sanitary cooking environment.