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From Tobacco Earnings Once a Year to Sustainable Monthly Income

Posted On: October 7, 2024

By smallholder farmer Amos Pariyo, as told to EWS-KT Technical Field Officer Patrick Aziti

Farmer Amos Pariyo between rows of tomatoes.
Amos Pariyo on his farm.

TEREGO DISTRICT, UGANDA — I am called Pariyo Amos, a resident of Gangu village, Angazi parish, in Omugo subcounty. I was born and raised in a renowned tobacco farming community, and both of my parents were tobacco farmers.

We planted cassava and beans for food, but the only household income source was selling tobacco, which is harvested just once a year. Under these circumstances, our parents were unable to educate me and my siblings, since they never had enough money to pay our school fees for three terms in a year. 

After I grew up, my situation was even worse. Unlike my parents, who had enough land for production, I never had access to much land. I also had no alternative income-earning opportunities other than farming—I am not educated, to look for a formal job, and other informal jobs available do not pay enough to match my household demands. 

Seeking to improve my earning options, I began to participate in vegetable farming trainings held at the vegetable demonstration gardens established by East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer Foundation in our community.

Farmer Amos Pariyo between rows of tomatoes.
Trellising supports Amos’s healthy tomato plants, while organic mulch helps to conserve moisture and prevent weeds.

I acquired vegetable farming knowledge and skills from the trainings and gained access to technical support, and I am now a renowned vegetable farmer in the community who is consulted by many other farmers within and beyond our village

To maintain constant income flow, I practice staggered production, which ensures continuous availability of ready vegetables for marketing all year round. On top of that, I also engage in a seedling production business where I raise and sell seedlings to farmers who don’t have time to raise their own seedlings. This has improved our household financial status and enables me to pay school fees in a timely manner for my children. 

Learning from what I have achieved already in vegetable farming, my father is also a transformed tobacco farmer who now grows vegetables. Not only my father but also many other previous tobacco farmers in our community are joining us in the vegetable farming business.  


Amos participated in the Improving Food Security and Incomes and Reducing Chronic Malnutrition in Rhino Refugee Settlement and Host Communities in West Nile, Uganda project, which was co-funded by Arab Gulf Programme for Development (AGFUND). Like EWS-KT’s other projects that involve refugees, this project was also dedicated to improving the farming skills and nutrition of farmers—like Amos—from host communities, with half of the demonstration plots established in the host communities and half in the refugee settlements.