Happy Farmer First: Meet Nolodi!

Nolodi took a leap of faith and paid to build a chicken barn.

This barn was her buy-in, a way to show our partners in the region she was committed.

We believe in help that lasts because we’ve seen how much work doesn’t. Before AgGrandize, our team spent years doing other work in countries around the world, and we had a front row seat to a lot of unsustainable, unhelpful work that just didn’t last.

So how do we increase the chances that our programming will go the distance and actually be sustainable? It starts with local buy-in.

Some will refuse to contribute, assuming they’ll get handouts regardless (and sadly they’re often right), but it’s farmers like Nolodi we’re looking for because you can’t have longterm, lasting success without a farmer willing to put skin in the game.

We bent down to admire the chimney flue system in Nolodi’s barn (pictured above) as our partners explained how it keeps chicks warm in winter months. Simple yet sophisticated, the barn holds several hundred chicks with each batch sold back to our regional partners every 40 days, providing a strong, stable income for Nolodi’s family.

The work is not without challenges, of course. Nolodi’s children roll water in large barrels from across the farm to keep the chicks watered and cool, and Nolodi is still learning how to keep the chicks alive and safe until maturity.

This Farmer First, we salute the countless small-scale farmers like Nolodi who work every day to feed their families and make ends meet. Nolodi is able to afford things like school tuition thanks to her hard work and willingness to build a chicken barn on faith. Thank you for helping fund and support work like this, it makes a difference.