Crop Growing Training

Tamarind takes small groups of 12 farmers (120 per year) for a fortnight and provides a holistic program covering crop growing and animal husbandry, delivered in the local Acholi dialect.

The Tamarind Training Farm is a working farm divided into 1/2 acre sections where different small crops are grown such as millet, beans, sweet potatoes, potatoes, ground nuts (peanuts) and maize. Farmers attend daily and are taught and shown modern methods and better ways to increase the yield of each of the crops, from how to choose better seeds, when and how to spray for pests, to the best fertilisers like chicken manure, and irrigation methods.

They learn and understand quality control. Working alongside Tamarind staff in the field helps them understand how better farming practices for different types of crop means more yield at harvest time.

Farmers return to their own land and implement this knowledge and skill on a larger scale, and both increase and specialise their yield. In the past, these same farmers had been mixing crops in their fields which resulted in the plants fighting for nutrients and therefore a low harvest to feed their families.  With new knowledge and skills, farmers are able to maximise the yield, moving towards a commercial venture rather than a subsistence one, which will bring long term benefits to their families.

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Farmers are assessed and supported by Local Council Leaders who follow up to see the implementation of the practices at home. 

Tamarind employs local people to work on the Training Farm, and uses the crops grown to feed the staff and farmers. Workers are paid either a fair local wage or may undertake a seed loan program instead.