Residents of Vihiga County have been urged to venture into indigenous vegetable farming to improve their living standards.
Speaking during a field inspection tour in one of the farms at Jeptorol, Hamisi sub county, Vihiga County Anglican Development Services (ADS) Coordinator Lydia Khayongo advised residents to plant indigenous vegetables, which would guarantee more money.
Khayongo said if the farmers could form groups, they could sell the indigenous vegetables to Nairobi, where they were on great demand, and this could earn them higher income.
She said in Vihiga County, ADS Western has partnered with the Bukura Agricultural College to train 14 women groups in five value chains including indigenous vegetables farming, poultry farming, fish farming, dairy farming and tissue culture banana farming.
The coordinator said Mugumu Support Women Group in Hamisi Sub County is one of the groups that has been trained in indigenous vegetables farming, asking them to train other residents to use modern farming techniques. She encouraged them to make use of the poultry and dairy project manure to enrich the vegetables, which would improve their quality and quantity.
The groups have also been trained on how to make organic fertilizer, using locally available material. Khayongo now wants the groups to improve the quality of their farms and sell the surplus produce to help them to earn extra money.
One of the group members Debora Kedogo thanked ADS Western for training them saying youths and women can now get their own money, which has empowered them economically.
