Elishililia Mollel is a living example of how pulses farming can transform somebody’s life. She is a widow with three children living at Kikatiti village about 30 kilometers south of Arusha town. Ms. Mollel depends on small-scale farming as the main source of income. Her husband died in 2005 and unlike what was expected of a widowed woman in her community, she refused to be inherited by her husband’s relatives as per local customs and instead decided to work hard on her own to raise her children.

“We started farming since 1984 when I was married to my husband. Life was tough and the yield wasn’t good enough. We didn’t know anything to do with modern farming methods,” she says. According to her, life became even harder after the passing away of her husband but she says she was determined not to lose hope.

“In 2005 people from SARI (Selian Agricultural Research Institute –Arusha) were going around inspecting people’s fields. They saw mine since it’s just along the Arusha-Moshi highway. They asked for me and invited me for training.” She recalls adding: “They introduced me into modern ways of farming like spacing, use of fertilizer, selection of good seeds, among others. I just followed their instructions and slowly I noticed the increase in harvests. I was now able to harvest more from the two-acre piece of land that my husband left me with.”

For years now FAO has been supporting SARI for technical advice and resources for carrying out research activities on crops and seed development.

According to her, she now grows five different types of pulses based on the advice from SARI experts and that she is able to sell and get profits. “From the profit I made I was able to build a wooden house and moved in from the mud hut that was left by my husband. However, after sometime I felt that even that was not good enough,” she says.

Unlike previously, she now produces enough food for her family and selling. “From the profit I made I was able to build a wooden house and moved in from the mud hut that was left by my husband. However, after sometime I felt that even that was not good enough,” she says.

Since she was getting more profit, she decided to build a modern brick house where she now lives. The well-built house is installed with solar panels to supply her with electricity for watching TV in the evenings after farm work. She has also managed to buy one more acre of land for expansion of her farming. As for alternative source of income, Ms. Mollel has bought a motorbike, which she uses for her farming activities and also hiring. Besides, she has also started a poultry business of indigenous species that attract good price in the market.

Ms. Mollel has been an agent for change in her village and neighbouring areas whereby her farm is used for demonstration to other farmers in the village. She has formed two farmers’ groups in the village namely Lelangwera and Kimbuki that are used as platforms for transforming their way of farming. The number of villagers interested in pulses’ farming has also increased.

“Previously we didn’t pay much attention to pulses. But now almost everyone grows them here,” she says.