In Mathende village, Gladys Ntini said the
SWRGN project helped women shift from
subsistence gardening to farming as a busi
ness, strengthening household resilience and
independence.

“We used to farm just to eat, but we were
taught that farming can be a business,” Ntini
said. She explained that the programme
empowered women to earn an income instead
of waiting for their husbands to provide. “If
the father of the house is not there, you are
not stranded. I can now take care of my chil
dren using money from farming,” she said.
Through irrigation schemes, women in the
area now farm throughout the year, producing
maize cobs and tomatoes during the rainy
season and beyond. Ntini said profits from
farming have enabled women to diversify into
goat rearing, join Internal Savings and Lend
ing Schemes (ISALs) and even renovate their
homes. “We are seeing real change.
Our living conditions are improving because
we are farming for profit,” she said, urging
communities to fully embrace support from
development partners