Former US President Bill Clinton traveled from Dar es Salaam to Iringa, and then drove for an hour and 45 minutes to the Clinton Development Initiative’s Ngongwa Anchor Farm, arriving at 10:30 AM.
He was joined by workers at the Ngongwa Anchor Farm, smallholder farmers who are part of the Anchor Farm Project, Clinton Development Initiative CEO Walker Morris, and Otto Ulyate, who provides management services for the Anchor Farm Project.
At the farm, Otto explained to President Clinton how no-till farming can reverse the damaging effects of years of soil compaction.
This climate smart technique helps store rainwater and avoid runoff that can lead to erosion and lowered crop yields.
President Clinton also saw some of the equipment being used to plant and fertilize crops on the Anchor Farm, which is part of the farm’s precision agriculture technology. This equipment has software that gathers and stores data about the fields, which allows for more accurate spraying, seed planting, and fertilization.
President Clinton then traveled to a maize field that is part of the Anchor Farm Project, where assistant farm manager Sam Reynolds, farm supervisor Deogratius Ndomba, and President Clinton surveyed the increased crop outputs that the improved techniques and precision agriculture technology have produced.
From there, President Clinton visited the house of Wazia Chawala, a single mother raising seven children, who runs a CDI demonstration plot. At this demonstration plot, Wazia shows other members of the community the techniques — such as different combinations of seeds and crop rotation — that help her increase her output and improve her income. These techniques have already helped her increase her yield exponentially from 10 to 25 bags of maize.
Wazia was joined by Humphrey Mlagalila, formerly head trainer in the CDI smallholder farmer program. Humphrey is now completing advanced training and teaching at Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro.
Finally, President Clinton stopped at the Mtitu School, which runs a demonstration plot as part of the Anchor Farm Project.
The students welcomed the President with an enthusiastic cheer of “Hi, Mr. President!” Crops grown by surrounding farms that are part of the Anchor Farm Project feed the students at the school.
In addition, the students run the demonstration plot, learning crucial farming skills, and the crops grown are turned into food by the students.
African Eye News.com
