Karisa is a member of Kakuyuni Cassava Growing, one among other groups constituting Kakuyuni Aggregation Center. He joined the group in March of 2018 with the aim of getting a market for his cassava.
He has a nursery from where he moves the cassava to his farm when he deems them ready for the farm. His nursery has moved to a newly acquired piece of land measuring a quarter an acre.
Challenges
The following are some of the challenges Karisa has experienced.
- Drought – He experienced losses during the 2021 season when he planted his cuttings. This was due to the drought experienced during that season.
- Market – He was unable to get a market for his harvestthat he was able to harvest from previous season. This led to losess as a result of his inability to secure a market for his produce.
- Distance from market – He noted that most market from his experience, was from the far west part of the country. As such, most of his harvest has gone bad due to luck of market.
- Lack of storage facility – Karisa is unable to secure sufficient storage facility for his produce, fearing losses.
Achievents
Karisa has been positively impacted since joining the group in the following ways;
- Karisa has been able to learn cassava value addition and can sufficiently produce chips from the use of traditional carrot grater to achieve this when not at the aggreagtion center. He is also able to mill flour on his own for making chapatis and porridge for sale. This has contributed to his personal financial growth and overall self sufficiency.
- Karisa has also been able to get food from cassava in the form of a local delicacy, popularly known as kigwada, from cassava leaves. This has reduced his cost of purchasing food and he has also been able to improve his health due to the health benefits of the cassava plant.
- Karisa has been able to acquire more land from the proceeds of the cassava sales. He has put this land under cassava with the hopes of improving his profits.
- Karisa has also been able to educate hus children throught the proceeds of his cassava sales. This has changed the future and vision of his children.
- Karisa has also been able to buy cattle from the proceeds of his cassava sales. This has contributed to his personal sustenance.
Overall, Karisa is grateful for the education he has gotten at the aggregation center and is apt in sharing the same with his community members.
Future Plans
Karisas’ vision for himself includes;
- He plans to expand his acreage under cassava to about 6 acres, for which he owns. This would increase his profits exponentially and also employment for the locals who will be hired to help with the farm and harvesting.
- He also plans to educate more members of his community on the health and financial benefits of cassava.
