Rural Women in Agriculture.
Meet Jackline Chepkwemboi, a 36-year-old food hero from Kaseko Sub-County in Kween District.
I am Chepkwemboi Jackline, a 36-year-old mother of 7(6 girls and a boy) residing in Tambajja Village, Kaseko Sub-County in Kween District.
I have since 2004 engaged in small scale farming, predominantly growing Maize, Irish Potatoes, Tomatoes and Onions. Through farming, I have been able to pay school fees for my children and upgrade our house from grass thatched to iron sheets.
When COVID-19 broke out and the country was locked down, it set me back because I couldn’t conduct business. I had planned to sell off my onions but there was no market as people were focused on how to survive on the little, they had rather than on buying onions. As a result, I was barely left with any money to provide for my family.
We nevertheless braved the season with the help of my savings and things have since gotten better, especially after the lifting of some lockdown measures.
As a rural woman farmer, I am faced with several challenges not limited to lack of capital for garden maintenance, for purchase of pesticides as well as fertilizers. These challenges continue to limit the possible expansion of my farming.
I recommend that the government supports small scale rural women farmers like me to boost our livelihood by issuing us with interest free loans. This will enable us to upgrade our small-scale farms to at-least middle scale.
