Alexia Paulo Nyoni, age 53, is a widow who lives in Mikoleko village, in the Kilombero District of southwestern Tanzania’s Morogoro region. In 2012, she was nominated by her farmers’ association to be trained by NAFAKA I on good agriculture practices (post-harvest handling, record keeping, pesticide use and handling, the preparation of rice Quality Declared Seeds [QDC]), and provision of extension services to farmers. ACDI/VOCA currently implements the Feed the Future Tanzania NAFAKA II Activity.
Throughout both the NAFAKA I & II projects, Alexia has been a Village-Based Agriculture Advisor (VBAA). Her exceptional efforts have been recognized not only by the NAFAKA II project and the smallholder farmers with whom she works but also by the village government authorities.
“This year, I managed to train more than 300 smallholder farmers from my village and nearby within Kilombero District. I have also been training other farmers 1,000 of miles away, for instance in the Mwanza region, through a mobile phone. NAFAKA GAP trainings enabled us to increase [the] rice harvest from a minimum of four bags per acre to a maximum of 30 bags.”
–Alexia Paulo Nyoni, NAFAKA II participant and village-based agricultural advisor
Each season, Alexia prepares a demonstration plot for 120 farmers’ association members to learn more about Good Agricultural Practices (GAP). She also prepares and sells rice quality declared seeds each season. This season Alexia already has 20 bags of rice (TXD 306 QDS1 and 130 bags of QDS2 [150kg/bag]), which she expects to sell 0.65 US$ per kilogram when the season begins.
“As a widow with five children, it was hard when my husband passed in 2005, until the sun rose in 2012, when NAFAKA I began activities. Since then through an increase of farm productivity, and the BDS services I provide, my income has consistently been rising. My husband left me with 20 acres of farmland, and one house; I managed to buy 145 more acres of farm land worth USD$7,934, 18 plots worth USD$3,913, two used power tillers worth USD$2,391, and eight built properties worth USD$3,347.”
–ALEXIA PAULO NYONI, NAFAKA II PARTICIPANT AND VILLAGE-BASED AGRICULTURAL ADVISOR
To further support her family, Alexia has creatively developed other alternative source of income such as charging a fee for people to view football (soccer games) on a TV and hiring out a motorcycle.
Learn more about about the Feed the Future Tanzania NAFAKA II Activity here.
Learn more about our work in Tanzania here.
