Espoir and Kaneza live in the Nyengwe watershed of Burundi. While Burundi is one of the countries most afflicted by poverty, Espoir and Kaneza demonstrate a way out.
"Before we joined Plant With Purpose Burundi, I was not able to feed my children sufficiently. Our production was very low due to the lack of agricultural knowledge. As Burundi farmers, we didn’t know how to maintain soil fertility. I was ignorant about environment protection, and I recall I had more than 8 hectares of land without trees.
I had no access to credit because there were no banks in our community. I left my family and went to work for private individuals. The monthly salary was very low and could not cover the needs of the family. I wanted to go back to my farm to live with them.
Indeed, after I joined the Plant With Purpose program, my vision and thoughts changed. I started to adopt some techniques learned in the different Seeds of Change training sessions. I became a friend to my land as Burundi farmers. I followed all the advice of a Plant With Purpose agronomist : planting selected seeds and applying improved techniques. On my farm, I traced contour canals and planted living barriers.
I now have vegetable gardens, compost, and I know how to properly use organic manure. This increased my production significantly. Before, my farm was infertile due to strong erosion. I am now harvesting a big quantity and produce for the market.
I now understand the importance of restoring the environment by planting trees on our land of more than eight hectares. In the years to come, I will not have as many problems teaching my children. They can even participate in university studies thanks to my progress. Plant With Purpose has helped me to have a better life and given me future hope for my family... I will not forget!
Economically, my wife was unhappy before because she was not able to see improvement. She told me that it would be better that I remain at home and help her in agricultural activities because she heard about Plant With Purpose’s training. After taking her advice, I decided to join the Purpose Group. My thoughts completely changed and I am not the same person as before. I was able to buy a dairy cow with a Purpose Group loan."
