Project Harvest-Artists Academy
To combat famine, this project focuses on stimulating and developing the smallholder farmer in Somalia. We provide them with vocational education, microfinance and facilities with the aim of alleviating the acute shortage of skilled personnel in the food and agricultural sector. This will lead to growth in production by small farmers, making domestic products, including fresh fruit and vegetables, more accessible in rural areas. Ultimately, growth in the local market will spread to other areas, much like a snowball effect, making the project self-sustaining.
Help us empower the small farmer to develop and turn them into a true Harvest Artist!
We see farmers as a pivotal leverage point to ease acute famine. When farmers become more productive; they earn more income, climb out of poverty, feed their communities and they reduce environmental land pressure. This is particularly true for Sub-Sharan Africa. Where crop yield is far underneath western standards.
Quality agro-input
Our overall goal is to increase smallholder farm production and productivity to ultimately increase their income. We realize this by reaching out to local farmers, offering vocational education programs on our demonstrative farm where we teach about modern cultivation methods such as soil conservation and increase understanding of market viability and value-addition opportunities, post-harvest handling, storage, diversification, or new market options. In addition, we educate about how to handle, obtain and make use of high-quality raw materials such as improved modified seeds as well as drip irrigation and greenhouses. After participation, the smallholder farmers experience an average increase in income between $90-$140 dollars per month.
Besides our training programs, participants are offered to be a partner-farm, being enabled by microfinance for high-quality inputs such as modern seeds, drip irrigation, and agrochemicals as well as an aftercare program where 24/7 assistance is offered by our trained staff
We contribute by increasing the income of smallholder farmers, lower livelihood risk, and encourage agricultural innovation; the result provides high quality, nutritional, fresh, and flavourful variety of fruits, spices, and vegetables for national consumption and eases the acute lack of domestic product.
Training program
Our training program has been developed in collaboration with experts from the Netherlands and Kenya and offers the following components.
- Water management (how to deal with scarcity, for example by using drip irrigation, but also to prevent damage due to heavy rainfall)
- Harvest cycle
- Planting and growing rotation modified seeds (choice and care)
- Sustainable use of chemicals and fertilizers (natural soil conservation)
- Polytunnels
- Growing guides
We are convinced that these types of projects are needed now more than ever. Not only for existing farmers, but also for future generations.
Our societal impact is the long-term difference our organization makes to the people and places we work in and with. The social impact is at our core. It is therefore our driving force to create a better and fairer world for smallholder farmers and the ecosystem in which they live.
