Ogwang Denis 54 years from Alebere parish abolet village Barr Sub County in Lira district. We have lived here for 30 years and have 6 children with 1 grandchild. Life here has been difficult especially during the Lord’s Resistance Army war. We have since childhood derived our livelihood from agriculture and specifically tilling of land. We used to undertake farming using different methods that we were used to and saw our fore fathers using, although we never realized any changes in the farm output. However the story changed in 2011 when we were selected by Kulika Uganda and we were trained in Sustainable Organic Agriculture. We adopted practices like growing crops in line, not burning the field, making nursery beds for vegetables among others.
Through the groups, we are able to bulk our crops and keep it in our nice store as we wait for prices to get better to enable us sell. The VSLA Activities the group and pay back later, through this arrangement I have been able to access money and pay fees for my children because I sell produce and get more money as a result of selling with others. We now eat well as we grow vegetables like tomatoes, pumpkin, fruits like mangoes and we eat as well as sell some. This has also helped to bring some more money.