Subsistence farming

Greetings - I am now back in Nairobi, which is providing me with some much needed rest. Being back in the city has given me a new appreciation for those everyday luxuries I take for granted such as a hot shower, nearby markets, and not having to cook over an open fire. Nonetheless, I greatly value the time I spent out in Kitui, as it has shown me a glimpse of what it takes to live the life of the subsistence farmer. It all boils down to this: an incredible amount of work.  I have learned about crop growth, crop maintenance, indigenous trees and fruits, the labour involved with planting, growing, maintaining, watering, transplanting, harvesting, packaging and cooking the very seeds we are constantly planting.

Kitui is a hot, dry, and arid land. Unless you have developed a water source on your farm, it is impossible to plant crops year round. A well was built on the farm where I was working, which sets an example for the community on what can be done with a bit of hard work and ingenuity. The well is about 25 feet deep and was dug on-site by hand. Cement bricks were hand made to hold the water, and a treadle pump was purchased for 7000 Kenyan shillings (around 80 dollars) to pump the water up through the well, onto the dry land.

There are also indigenous trees, fruits and vegetables that grow out here with minimal maintenance once they are mature. This includes mangos, cassavas, papayas, mchicha, sorghum even cashew and macadamia trees, to name a couple. The papayas are in season right now, and I must say, they are the most delicious, sweet, juicy papayas I have ever eaten in my life. Similarly, harvesting cassava and roasting or boiling them, is incredibly delicious! There is something about working on the land, and directly eating the fruits of your labour, that makes your meals that much more satisfying.

While in Kitui I had the opportunity to visit several off-shoot youth farms that have been developed as a direct result of our organizations intervention. It was incredibly inspiring visiting these farms, as these youth have neatly planted acres of sakuma, tomatoes, onions, lemons, cowpeas, green grahams, complimented with indigenous trees and fruits (papayas, lemons, cassavas, etc…) The organization works like a teacher, in that it works with youth, and trains them, teaches them, equips them, and then leaves them to continue on in the same work and train others.

Here is a little bit of history of how the organization came to be connected in Kitui. They partnered with a local farmer and his family, who wanted to become active members of Shiriki. Fourteen volunteers then came out to provide much strength and labour in growing the farm land. They worked in several locations in Kitui, partnering with different families who were not utilizing their land. They turned many acres of barren, idle land into a tropical oasis overflowing with food and abundance. There was one well, which remains at the site where I was staying, and the rest of the irrigation was all completed by hand. After staying in Kitui for a year and a half, and establishing contacts with women’s groups, schools, and local youth in the area, the volunteers went back to Nairobi to strengthen the programs in the city.

Working in Kitui has been a training ground for me.  Living the life we are encouraging other youth to live is certainly valuable in its own right, it is vital knowledge and life experience, and is truly one of the only ways that Africa is going to be able to find its way out of the food security crisis it has reached. As I have already mentioned, East Africa is experiencing food security crises at an alarming level. Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia have had two consecutive seasons of below average rainfall which has reduced harvests as well as grazing. This, in combination with the escalating food and fuel prices, has brought devastation to many communities.  In Kenya alone, an estimated 2.4 million people are food insecure, particularly in arid regions.

Dry weather conditions have prevailed in East Africa for more than 9 months now; therefore, grazing lands for livestock, which presents a large percent of East African livelihood, has been greatly reduced. I saw much of this issue while in Kitui. During the July to September period, everyone lets their livestock loose. This was a huge problem for the farm in Kitui, as adequate monetary resources are not available to build appropriate fences, so we were constantly chasing out goats, cattle, and donkeys who wish to nourish (and can’t say I blame them) on the crops we have worked so hard to grow. 

Following the late onset of rains, the main cereal planting season is ongoing this July in the Rift Valley region in Kenya, which the government is reporting will replenish the depleted resources. Time and adequate rainfall will tell whether or not this will transpire. For the first time, the government has approved the importing GMO maize to replace the insufficient food that was expected from this year. Many concerns have been raised about replacing indigenous crops with GM corn. These include disrupting local markets, (as GM maize is 30 percent cheaper than non GM maize), contamination of local varieties,  and indeed, profits made from maize sales does not stay in the country, but goes to the big corporations (Monsanto).

In addition, while 2.4 million people in Kenya suffer from food security, much fertile farmland is used for exportation. Flowers, tea, green beans, coffee, pineapples, etc… are grown on some of Kenya’s best lands, and exported. Unfortunately, the agriculture policy makers and problem solvers are also Kenya’s biggest landowners. As such, land idleness, underutilization of land, land shortages and land conflicts are created and sustained.

When confronted with famine in arid regions, one would think that fertile regions, be used, in part to ensure food sovereignty. Ownership of land that could be allocated to those requiring land for food production, is instead shifted to those with capital or political influence. Additionally, much land is family owned and inherited, not a problem in and of itself; however, it becomes problematic with the rural urban migration and brainwashing that occurs. This brainwashing amalgamates the message that farming is an undesirable occupation; instead youth should migrate to the city where the “good jobs” are. Families let land lay idle, and wait for money to come from family members working in Nairobi.

Anyways, now that I am back here in Nairobi, there are a few non-farming related activities that I am involved in. A new program has been started up in Kibera which involves three schools, several local NGOs in the area, and environmental innovations. We have already been accepted for funding, but now have to develop a plan and a proposal for environmental initiatives involving the surrounding Kibera community. There are two members who are actively involved in this initiative who continue to participate in ongoing training. My role will involve aiding with the project proposal. I will report more on this as I begin to work in this area.

As I mentioned earlier, I have also come up with a revenue tracking process, in which I am going to try to generate some buy-in from all organization members while in the city. It’s a simple process whereby everybody receives a template for recording expenses and inputting revenue that the organization has received. These expense reports will be sent to the treasurer who will record the accounts for agency recording. After that, I will be inputting the data into an electronic database. We are continuing to discuss the parameters and time periods for which this system will commence.

One of the main income generating activities that the organization has developed involves the manufacturing of shoes, clothing and mosaics. Not only do they sell these items, but they also train youth and other groups, who need to make an income, on these initiatives. I have started to learn about shoe making and other processes and have been asked to help market these items. While in Nairobi I have started to look into partnering opportunities, and am working on a webpage that showcases these handicrafts. Until then, onward and upward, thank you for reading!

My apologies for waiting so long before posting another entry, the days have been long, the days have been busy, the days have been without electricity. As I have told some of you, I am now in rural Kenya. More precisely, I am now in Kenya’s eastern province in Kitui. The organization I am working with has several plots of land in rural Kenya. While the organization also works out of Nairobi, one of their main objectives is increasing the output of agriculture and land use efficiency. They are working to train youth how to farm and work the land. Food security is a huge issue facing the Kenyan population as Kenya is currently in a recession, cost of transport is high, there was reduced rainfall last year, and hence, reduced yield in crops, specifically maize.  

Kitui in particular, is a region marked with much stagnant, unfarmed land, and the economy in this area is poor. Many of the community members own land, yet do not engage in farming. Instead, they will send their sons and daughters into the city after completing secondary school where they await money and food to be brought in. In addition, farmers who do farm, often do not come close to using the land to its maximum utility. Maize may be planted twice a year, and the rest of the time the land lies idle. In the past year, there was a significant reduction in rainfall which had devestating effects for farmers in Kitu, and throughout the country. Money was tight, food shortages were everywhere, and the cost of food was extremely high.

Maize is the predominant cash crop in Kenya, or so I am told. While there are a number of indigenous crops that grow very well here and provide equal or higher nutritional benefits, a high percentage of the farming population plants, farms and sells maize. As you can imagine, this does not fare to the farmers’ advantage: when maize is in season, it is available everywhere and the price paid for this commodity is extremely low. Farmers in this part of the province have no means of transporting their produce to market; therefore, they sell at very low prices to middle men buyers. These men then transport the maize to the cities where it is bought for as much as ten times what the maize is sold for.

The farm where I am currently abiding grows an abundance of crop varieties. While they do have some maize, they have several grain options which range from beans, pumpkin, peanuts, potatoes, sorghum, cassava, and green grams to name a few. They also grow a huge variety of vegetables and fruits from peppers, tomatoes, onions, sakuma, spinach, mango, papaya, and passion fruit among others. While it is an active farm, it is also a training ground where youth from the community visit, are trained, and supported in farming their own plot of land. So you may be asking yourself, where do I fit in out here? Well here are some logistics about my daily living.

This part of Kenya has no electricity, so my solar powered battery has most certainly come in handy and is a hot commodity around these parts. However, when night falls, it is very dark, other than a low energy torch, there is little to light one’s path. I am living in a house made up of mud walls, and mud bricks.

My daily routine goes something like this: I wake up each morning around 6:30. I try to take the first half hour in the morning to study Swahili, as I most likely won’t find the time after that. Then we get to work on the land, watering the crops, and manually stepping on the treadle pump. Watering takes about 2 hours. After watering is complete, someone usually prepares breakfast which is usually comprised of papayas and ugi (porridge made of maize flour).

Next we will do whatever task needs doing such as digging plant beds, planting trees, transporting seedlings, harvesting, or any other kind of farm task. During the day several youth stop by to check out the works, and while I can’t understand what is being said, there is a lot of respect for these works by the youth in the community. While I can’t say that I have strong skills in manual labour, it has been good for me to see the processes, challenges and labour output involved in small scale farming in rural Kenya.

Farming out here looks completely different from farming at home as everything is done by hand. It is very hot here, and digging up nursery beds in the heat of the day is extremely taxing. Not only that, but regular tasks such as harvesting the vegetables, washing them, cooking them, cleaning up afterwards, having a shower, washing your clothes, are incredibly time consuming and tiring. Hunching over in a four foot hut while stirring a pot of ugali takes some serious manpower!  Washing machines, waist high countertops, and electric ovens are unaffordable luxuries to the majority of the farmers out here in Kitui.

In the afternoon, there is usually time for non-farming activities. For example, we spent the last three days writing up a proposal for a youth (aged 18-35 years) grant here in Kitui. The project consists of recruiting, training, and supporting youth in forming small scale agricultural businesses. As I already mentioned, there is much idle land in this area, and many youth will leave the rural area for the city as soon as they are done school.This leaves the area with a growing aged population with limited strength to care for the land or the elderly.  In addition, crop variety is extremely limited in this part of Kenya; hence, they are encouraging the youth to grow a variety of crops that can better sustain weather changes and reduced rain. Some of the project ideas consist of youth growing and selling organic farm produce, vegetable and fruit drying, flour milling and baking, oil pressing and extraction, canning and pickling, making natural nut butters, and the packaging of indigenous crops for medecines and remedies.

There is huge potential out here for innovation. As I previously mentioned, much money is lost through transport. This project aims to bring youth together in formally registered groups that cooperate and share resources so that every aspect of their business can be completed to its maximum yield. In other words, we are hoping that efforts can be made for youth to not only grow and package their produce, but also to establish a market for their produce, find transport solutions, and establish sales links with some of the larger (either grocery stores or farmers markets) in the city.

There are already several youth working towards this objective within Kitui; however, resources are extremely tight, and even to implement irrigation systems takes a great deal of effort and time. It will take substantial energy and resources before the following steps I have outlined above, will manifest. Whether or not the grant is awarded however, they will continue to educate, train and support youth in agriculture and agriculturally based business  in Kitui.

As a follow up to my earlier posts, we did complete the annual returns for the last 2 years; however, there have been some hiccups in sending them in. The prior Director of this NGO is no longer here, and efforts have been made to have him sign over the paperwork. Another issue is that three members of the NGO need to get a PIN number in order to sign the organization up for a PIN number. The PIN number is the code for the organization's taxes. I am hoping this will be completed fairly soon and continue to encourage the members to finish up with this task.

Another area they have asked me to look into is revenue tracking. In the past 2 years since the organization has been functioning, the amount of revenue coming in, or costs going out, has not been documented or tracked. I have come up with a simple idea for tracking all revenue within the organization which has been received very well. I will post more on this next time.

Living in the rural area has many challenges, and while I can't say I am entirely comfortable here, it is good to be able to see for myself how small scale farming works in Kenya, what some of the challenges as well as future potentials are, and to be a part of the process in coming up with solutions for supporting local youth in small scale businesses.