Learning the Ropes as a First Time Farmer
Last year, I visited Faith, who lives on a small piece of land, about a quarter of an acre. Could farming be a viable business, I wondered. Faith decided she'd give it a try. She didn't want to bother our aging mother for help again.
Being a farmer is a lot harder than when we were kids. Climate change makes it harder to predict weather, so farmers have a lot more worrying to do even before spring planting season. Back in the 1980s, when we were kids, the rains were consistent. Also, the soils were bit healthier than they are today. I remember they were dark brown, but, over the years, their color has changed to a lighter brown because the soil's nutrients have been depleted. Farmers have repeatedly grown crops in the same soil without adding fertilizers, which are expensive.
That didn't stop Faith. She's getting advice from an agricultural extension agent from Kwale County about the a-to-z of growing crops and how to deal with drought (the solution was buying a drip irrigation kit).
Neil Palmer/CIAT