- Crop Science
- Seeds & Traits
Margaret´s Empowerment Against Hunger
Margaret Kumbe is a smallholder farmer in Kenya who once harvested only two or three bags of maize per season – even not enough to sustain her household. Through training, improved farming practices, and collaboration with Bayer and the Commercial Grain Association, she had grown her harvest and began sharing what she learned with other farmers. Today, she trains more than 400 people in her community and works toward a future in which households have enough food and women have greater opportunities.
When a Maize Harvest Was Not Enough
For smallholder farmers, a harvest can determine whether a household has enough food, whether children can stay in school, and whether there is any surplus to sell.
Before working with Bayer and the Commercial Grain Association, Margaret mainly grew sweet potatoes and harvested only two or three bags of maize per season. For her family, that was not enough.
“Now I harvest maize, and hunger is no longer a problem in my household,” Margaret says.
Learning New Ways to Grow Maize
Margaret gained deeper knowledge about maize cultivation, including how to better manage planting areas and use the right spacing between plants.
These practical details can help farmers use their land efficiently, manage costs, and produce food for their households as well as surplus for sale. For Margaret, learning was not just about one harvest. It helped her make more informed decisions from season to season.
From Farmer to Community Trainer
As Margaret gained experience, she began sharing it with others. Today, she leads 14 groups from village communities, each with 25 to 30 members. In total, she trains more than 400 farmers in food production, maize cultivation, and Bayer products as well.
She helps other farmers understand how to reduce costs, improve cultivation practices, and produce food for their families as well as surplus for sale.
Saving Together to Invest in Farming
Margaret also introduces farmers to Village Savings and Loan Associations, or VSLAs. These are community savings groups in which members contribute money regularly to a shared fund. Members can borrow from the fund for activities such as farming, repay the loan, and share the interest among the group.
In Margaret’s groups, each farmer contributes 30 Bob each week. The model helps members save together, access funds for agricultural activities, and support one another as they invest in their farms.
Better Harvests, New Opportunities
Margaret connects improved farming with opportunities beyond the field. Income from her farm and crop sales helped her educate her children. Both have since graduated from university, she says.
She is also involved in aggregating maize and agricultural inputs, building on the knowledge and connections she has developed through farming and training others.
A Vision of Food Security and Women’s Empowerment
Margaret’s goal reaches beyond her own household. She wants communities to have enough food, farmers to produce surplus for sale, and women to have greater opportunities.
“I only want to see a society without hunger, a society that is sustainable with food, a society where women are empowered because of a household with food,” she says.