Yasmeen, a 44-year-old resident of Sultanabad, Gilgit, Pakistan lives with her family of five. Due to family commitments, she was unable to work full time despite graduating with a college degree. She practiced traditional vegetable farming but the yield was too low to sell in local markets and barely met her household’s needs. Limited awareness on quality seed selection and crop disease management further reduced her productivity. With low yields and limited land, feeding her children was a daily struggle.
Yasmeen, together with four other women in her community, formed the Five Star Farmers’ Cooperative Society. Through the APFP-FO4A, the Agribusiness Support Fund (ASF) provided comprehensive technical support to the group, including training in good agricultural practices, pre- and post-harvest handling, packaging, and marketing, along with mentoring in organizational management. The ARISE program complemented this by offering access to loans for quality inputs and upgrading to vertical farming structures. This combined support helped Yasmeen and the other members of the cooperative transition from traditional, low-output agriculture to productive and climate-resilient vertical farming.
The impact was immediate and transformative. From three vertical structures, Yasmeen harvested 960 kilograms of cucumbers, earning PKR 48,000 (USD 173). The other two structures produced 1,510 kilograms of tomatoes, generating an income of PKR 105,700 (USD 380). In just one cropping season, her total earnings reached PKR 153,700 (USD 553*), a dramatic increase compared to her previous seasonal income of just PKR 5,000 (USD 17). (*$1 = PKR 278, December 2024)
This financial success also reflected Yasmeen’s dedication and the impact of the APFP-FO4A and ARISE programs. The shift to climate-smart practices significantly improved her yield, raised her income more than thirtyfold, and placed her at the top of her Farmers’ Organizations’s earnings list. Motivated by these results, Yasmeen and her family have now expanded into dairy farming.
Yasmeen used her earnings to cover her children’s school fees, meet household needs, and invest in hybrid seeds for the next cropping cycle. Her journey has inspired neighboring women, many of whom are now seeking membership in her farmer organization.
“Empowered with knowledge and support, I turned a small piece of land into a thriving source of hope and prosperity.”
— Ms. Yasmeen, General Secretary, Five Star Farmers Cooperative SocietyThe Asia-Pacific Farmers’ Program (APFP) – Farmers’ Organizations for Asia (FO4A) program is implemented by the consortium Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA) and La Via Campesina (LVC), and is financed by the European Union (EU) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The ARISE Program is implemented by the AFA. ASF is the national implementing agency for both programs in Pakistan.
APFP-FO4A and ARISE programs aim to increase income and to improve livelihood, food and nutrition security and safety of smallholders and family farmers in the target areas within the Asia region.
Comments are closed