Soybean farming brings smiles to persons with disabilities

Last December we shared Everlyne’s prediction that “by next year, our lives will have been transformed.” Was she right? It’s time to find out.

In 2024, the members of the Amase Disability Group in Busia, Kenya joined the Youth in Sustainable Aquaculture (YISA) programme with a resolution to change their future.

The YISA programme, led by Farm Africa in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, aims to build a thriving and dynamic fish farming industry in Kenya while creating 150,000 sustainable, meaningful and dignified work opportunities for young women and men including persons with disabilities (PWDs) and internally displaced persons (IDPs).

The Amase Disability Group was invited to join as soybean growers, supplying a key ingredient for the high-quality fish need that will be needed in large quantities.

How it started

When we checked in with the group in 2024, they had planted out their first crop and were feeling optimistic.

“Our soybean is doing well, and I believe that by next year, our lives will have been transformed,” Chairperson Everlyne had predicted, adding:

How it’s going

The group’s first harvest yielded five tonnes. The revenue significantly improved their livelihoods and motivated them to apply to the programme’s Challenge Fund for additional funding. Their application succeeded, enabling them to significantly expand production and celebrate a bumper second season harvest.

“In the second season, the group received a grant of KES 1.5 million, which significantly contributed to the 500 tonne harvest,” Everlyne shares. “The results are clear: our members are happier, and many young people who assist us have found employment opportunities through the YISA programme.”

Everlyne Namu, Chairperson of the Amase Group for Persons with Disabilities (left) and group secretary Abigael Odunga weeding out grass in the soybean plantation in Alupe, Busia County. Photo: Farm Africa / Maurice Goga.

Thriving against odds

Alongside her cultivation with the group, Everlyne, who is visually impaired, defied the odds by leasing and cultivating one acre of soybeans on her own, from which she harvested 700 kilograms.

Before joining YISA, life was challenging for Everlyne and her family:

“I survived by leasing my only piece of land to provide for my family. The money I received went into paying school fees for my children, feeding the family and meeting other household needs. It was never enough, and at some point, I was forced to sell all my cattle.”

Her soybean harvest has brought much-needed relief. She cleared overdue school fees, leased land for another season and bought a sheep.

She attributes the respect she now enjoys in the community to the YISA programme, noting that before its introduction, persons with disabilities like her were often looked down upon in her community as having little to offer.

She remains determined to keep her children in school and continue improving her family’s livelihood through soybean production. “My children have been in school throughout the two terms. I am only left with the fees for the third term,” she says.

Looking forward

Looking ahead, Everlyne hopes to buy a second-hand motorcycle to reduce the cost of transporting soybeans from her farm to her homestead.

“During this harvest, I spent KES 3,000 on transportation. From the proceeds of my next harvest, I intend to set aside some funds to purchase the motorcycle,” she explains.

She also aims to buy iron sheeting and bags of cement to renovate her house.

Everlyne encourages the Mastercard Foundation and Farm Africa to continue supporting persons with disabilities so that they can enjoy equal opportunities and feel fully included in society, free from discrimination.

At the same time, she urges fellow PWDs to move away from depending on handouts, explaining how shifting her own focus to soybean production has greatly improved her lifestyle.

Learn more about the opportunities being created for young people, PWDs and internally displaced people by the YISA programme: