Farmer, Morris Ngoma
Morris Ngoma is a young small-scale farmer based in Kalumekalinga Village, Kasenengwa District. He grows field and garden crops to support his family, but struggled with water scarcity—especially during the dry season—as his only source of water was an open well, which often dried up and was less effective during the rainy season.
This challenge limited his ability to expand his gardening business. Through the AFAS-sponsored project, Jacana later supported him by drilling a borehole to improve his access to reliable water.
About Morris Ngoma
Morris dropped out of school in Grade 9 due to financial challenges. He is the second-last born in his family and plays a growing role in supporting his 65-year-old parents and two siblings. As his parents grow older, Morris has gradually taken charge of much of the farm and garden work, though his parents still contribute where they can. Despite his young age, he is committed to farming and gardening, growing crops like maize, soya beans, groundnuts, and sunflower during the rainy season.
In his garden, he cultivates tomatoes, rape, okra, cabbage, and onions. He has strong practical farming skills but is eager to learn about new crops and how to grow high-value produce. Morris’s dedication to farming began at a young age, driven by the need to help sustain his family in a rural part of the Chiparamba area under Chief Mishoro.
Donor
Morris Ngoma is supported by AFAS.
Jacana’s role
Jacana will provide Morris with the following support:
– Business and financial training.
– A borehole and a solar pump.
– Agro support (partly sponsored agro supplies and inputs) and guidance
– Bookkeeping guidance.
Provided training
You can also download the manuals for these trainings:
Guidance and monitoring
April 2025
Morris Ngoma won the award for Outstanding Farmer in Chipata for the second year in a row at this year’s Best Farmer Award Ceremony.
April 2025
In the picture, Moses is showing his fellow farmers around his garden during a round of farmer-to-farmer visits. Since these visits were introduced, the farmers have appreciated them because they help them learn from each other, exchange ideas, and offer encouragement.
February 2025
Morris proudly shows his new phone, which he acquired through the project by paying a commitment fee towards its cost.
In February, he attended bookkeeping training focused on using a simple bookkeeping app. Although he had already started applying basic bookkeeping concepts using paper records, he appreciated the additional insights he gained—such as categorizing crops, and using graphs to get a clear overview of income, expenses, and profit.
December 2024
Since learning the basics of bookkeeping and understanding its importance, Morris has been consistently recording his day-to-day garden transactions. In the picture, he is showing his field officer the entries in his bookkeeping folder.
November 2024
After reviewing the results of the previous exchange visits held in March 2024, Jacana decided to organize a mid-year exchange to ensure that farmers could continue sharing the knowledge they had acquired—both from Jacana and other sources.
September 2024
Despite the water challenges caused by the drought, Morris still managed to grow winter maize using the mulching system he learned from Jacana. He took the initiative to use other crops as mulch—specifically beans, a legume—which not only helped retain moisture but also improved soil fertility.
June 2024
A section of Morris’ garden demonstrating the intercropping techniques he applied after receiving training.
April 2024
Morris won the Best Farmer Chipata award during the first-ever 2024 Best Farmer event held at Jacana’s Chipata offices. Farmers from Lundazi and Petauke also attended, and many expressed their happiness at the opportunity to connect with fellow farmers from different towns, making the event a valuable platform for sharing knowledge and building community.
April 2024
In April, farmers visited one another to observe, score, and engage in agro-related exchanges as part of the selection process for the upcoming Best Farmer Awards, which will recognize top performers in various categories.
In the picture, Morris is showing his fellow farmers a heap of Bokashi fertilizer that he made himself.
March 2024
The high cost of farming inputs like fertilizer and pesticides remains one of the biggest challenges preventing smallholder farmers in Africa from expanding their production. To address this, Morris was invited to attend Sustainable Organic Agriculture (SOA) and Organic Vegetable Production (OVP) training at Jacana.
During the training, he learned how to make organic pesticides and apply biomass transfer techniques. Participants were not only taught how to produce natural pesticides, but also how to use and spray them effectively.
In the picture Morris learns how to make a permanent deep bed.
December 2023
Morris set up a trial on his beans to test how Lab-Serem (a liquid fertilizer) performs on legumes. He was very happy with the results
November 2023
In November, Morris Ngoma attended a training on organic fertilizer production at the Jacana offices in Chipata, where he learned how to make Bokashi bio-fertilizer and Berkeley compost. He also learned to produce various liquid fertilizers such as Lab-Serem, a fermented serum, along with liquid bio-fertilizer made from cow manure and different types of compost tea—both animal-based and plant-based.
November 2023
A field officer visited Morris Ngoma to help him draw a detailed plan of his existing garden, focusing on the designated 50 x 50m plot set aside for project activities under the AFAS sponsorship. The planning exercise aimed to organize crop placement and layout within the specified area to support better management and productivity.
November 2023
In November, Morris Ngoma attended a training in business planning, marketing, and financial planning at Jacana’s office in Chipata. The training aimed to equip participants with practical skills such as developing a realistic business plan, brainstorming strategies to attract new customers, and understanding the basics of bookkeeping and marketing.
This training is designed to help beneficiaries strengthen their agribusinesses and make informed financial decisions.
