“My name is Priscilla Nyambura and I am a member of Lima Linda cooperative in Muranga county in Kenya. I am 45 years old, married and I have 3 children. My oldest child is studying at a university while the other 2 are in secondary school.”
Priscilla in her farm where she practices agroforestry
Priscilla has been a member of the Central Highland Tree Growers Association for the last 3 years. “When it was suggested we form a business arm in 2019 to market our products, I was one of the first ones to support the idea. This is because we had a big problem with middlemen who would rip us off when we sold our products individually.”
Priscilla registered with Lima Linda cooperative society in late 2019 when it had just been formed and since then she has noticed many benefits. “The cooperative helps us to sell our products together and at better prices.” The cooperation also looks for new markets and handles all the negotiations and transactions. This enables the members to concentrate on producing goods for the markets.
Lima Linda marketing cooperative has organized training for its members. Priscilla has attended several training sessions including a business planning course, a saving and lending course and a tree growing course. The cooperative tries to ensure that everyone has a chance to attend training and thus Priscilla has only attended courses she has been invited to. The cooperative is supported by Farm Forestry Smallholder Producers Association of Kenya (FF-SPAK), which is FFD:s implementing project partner in the project ‘Sustainable and profitable smallholder Forestry in Kenya’.
“I am glad my farm was identified as one of the model farms that other members and neighbors can learn from. You see, I get food and make money from the farm enabling me to take care of my family, so I have to take care of the farm very well.” In 2020 Priscilla sold 700kg of avocados through the cooperative and earned KES 47 600 (about 380 euros). Priscilla also grows maize, bananas and Irish potatoes on her farm providing food for her family. She also has animals like goats and poultry. In addition, Priscilla does horticulture on her farm which brings her an average of about KES 8000 a month. “The money I earn has enabled me to educate my children so they can finish school and get good jobs in the future.”
“I want to say a big thank you to our supporters. The support of the cooperative has enabled us to get much more income unlike in the past where we would sell our fruits for only KES 5 (0.04 euros) per piece.”
Priscilla’s kitchen garden and farm.
The FO4ACP programme is financed by the European Union, the OACPS Secretariat and IFAD
