CHILLI SUCCESS STORY – LOYO FAUSTINO

I’m a 45-year-old resident of Kapesinyang and a part of the Kapesiyang United Farmers Group. My name is Loyo Faustino. My community was not interested in starting a chilli farm when ICAN and NECPA first trained and sensitised us. I made the decision to organise them, and together with other chilli farmers, we created a group.

However, since the others in the group were not interested, I, as a group member, chose to be interested. I purchased two sackets of chilli seeds from JOSTOs, and I was able to raise those chilli nursery beds and chilli seedlings, which I later transplanted to a quarter acre, using the knowledge of good agronomic practises that we were trained on by DDSN-K ICAN and NECPA.

When the chilli had grown and was ready for harvest, I dried it thoroughly, sold it, and received only UGX500,000 (excluding the other modest sums of money I had received from customers when I sold it to the community level).

My life started to change as a result of the sales since I knew my family would have food. Additionally, I was able to buy five chickens, which have since multiplied to fifty, and my children are currently eating eggs and chicken meat as a source of food and a balanced diet.

One of my children successfully completed senior four, while the other is in primary seven. I was able to buy groundnut seeds and cassava stems, which allowed me to plant one acre of each crop. I was able to pay my children’s school fees.

I currently have one and a half acres of chilli planted once more, and this time I hope to make more money and raise my family to a higher standard. After learning about my advantages, the young have agreed to produce chilli as well, so I urge other community members to do the same in order to better their standard of living.