Mt Kilimanjaro, TZ – Mother uses garden income to start small businesses – 10 Nov 2017

The OFM family is using their vegetable gardenas a catalyst for small home businesses. So far they have started a small store at home and a chicken project. They hope to expand to cow and pig businesses as well.

Mama OFM was married in 1999. By the end of 2000 she had two children. Sadly, her husband died shortly after the birth of their second child leaving her to take after their two young children and her mother-in-law.

In 2015 Mama OFM started an organic vegetable garden with Lishe Bora. She started a garden because she heard that it would provide her with enough vegetables to feed her children every day. She was spending around 500 TZS (US $0.23) per day on vegetables so she was excited when the garden provided enough vegetables to feed everyone as well as extra vegetables to sell.

Mama OFM started making around 3,000 TZS per week selling vegetables. It wasn’t much but she saved the money in a box and eventually had enough money to open a small grocery kiosk. The kiosk produced even more income which she saved again and used to start a small chicken project. She hopes she can continue this cycle of producing, earning, saving, and investing until she has cow and pig businesses as well.

Eventually, Mama OFM would like to be able to send her children to vocational school. Both children had to drop out of school early because they could not afford school fees. Vocational school would give them a better chance at finding work and raising healthy children of their own someday.