How Kenyans Benefit from Farmers Helping Farmers Projects

The development project initiated by Farmers Helping Farmers with the Muchui Womens Group was designed to bring new technologies in vegetable production to an area suffering from the lack of water. The Muchui business centre, constructed around a screenhouse (a greenhouse with a plastic roof and sides of screen), was designed to serve as a demonstration site where members of the group could come and see how new cultivars and production techniques could increase crop yields, and improve the lives of their families. One such technique is the production of climbing tomatoes in the screenhouse using drip irrigation. This method of watering plants delivers a small amount of water to the base of each plant enabling farmers to transplant tomatoes at any chosen time. This facilitates harvesting tomatoes in the off season when prices are higher, than field produced crops. Staffed by Muchui employees Salome Ntinyari and Martin Gikunda, this centre has become a place where not only members, but people from the entire region come to see new production methods.

A few months ago the Muchui business centre held an open house day and invited all people living in the district. The program was televised and presented by the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation and Citizen Television Stations. Some observers from Meru who did not come to the site, watched the program on their televisions at home and found it very interesting and contacted Martin and Salome for additional information. Some came to the centre to meet the staff and observe for themselves the screenhouse and production of tomatoes. One resident of Meru town, Mr and Mrs Muthee, came to the centre and received all the necessary details on requirements for greenhouse production of climbing tomatoes. Soon, a new greenhouse measuring 10 x 20 metres was being built at his home in Meru Town, large enough to hold 800 Anna F1 tomato plants. Using one water tank and collected rainwater distributed by drip irrigation, the tomatoes will mature in the off season beginning in next January when prices are at their highest.
The total building costs were close to 150,000 Kenyan shillings (about $2,500 CDN). With the current and projected price of tomatoes at maturity, the expected income for the entire crop will be from 120,000 to 180,000 shillings ($2,000 - $3,000 CDN). In addition to this income, the family will have tomatoes to eat until August 2009. By building a greenhouse that will last about ten years, Rose Muthee, just one of the seven local residents to adopt such technology, will have sufficient income to pay school fees for her daughter’s education. Thus the objective of extending the work of the Muchui Womens Group to all members of the community is becoming a reality. Winston.

Photo: Daughter, Ms Jane Gitonga standing in the tomatoes.

Double digging results in better crops for Muchui and Ruuju women

Submitted by
Teresa Mellish
October 30, 2008

Double digging soil results in better crops for Muchui and Ruuju women
We visited the Muchui and Ruuju Women group members earlier this week and they showed us the results of double digging their soil in their kitchen gardens.
They learned the benefits of double digging and how to do it when we arranged for some of them to attend a training session at the Kaaga Bio-Intensive Resource Center in August.
The crops that were growing in soil that had been double dug were visibly greener and bigger that crops that were growing beside them in soil that was not double dug.
I understand that double digging means that the soil is dug twice as deep. First of all they spread some manure (or compost) on the top soil , then take off the top soil and set it aside. Then they loosen the sub-soil. Then the top soil is put back.
This allows the roots of the crop to reach down deeper for any nutrients or moisture that exist below the normal cultivation level.
This is quite a labour intensive process but it only has to be repeated in three years.
Now the other members of these two groups want to be trained at the Kaaga Bio intensive Centre.
We are always so impressed at how the women are so willing to implement new things on their shambas.
Photo shows Salome Kimathi and her mother, Rael, in Rael’s kitchen garden

Othaya welcomes Farmers Helping Farmers

Othaya Dairy Cooperative and Farmers Helping Farmers continued to build a strong relation today, as we met with the board of directors and many of the employees. The objective today was to interview candidates for the agronomist position and we had five excellent people. We found it difficult to decide today, so we will postpone our decision until we have field interviews over the next few days.

The weather has been great so far! No rain, knock on wood and the temps are mid 20's with sun and cloud. It's muddy around the shamba's though, but the Napier grass is looking good and many farmers are getting ready to make silage.

We will begin seminars on Thursday, after we visit more local farms and see more cattle.

Daniel

Group traveling to Kenya in October 2008

Five people are traveling to Kenya from October 23 until November 15 to work with Farmers Helping Farmers partner groups. Dr. Winston Johnston will be working with the Muchui Womens Group in Kiirua to support their crop diversification program. Ken Mellish will be working with the Othaya and Thubuku Dairy groups. Daniel Scothorn from Nova Scotia will be training the Othaya and Thubuku dairy groups on how to feed their cows for more milk production. Michael Whelton from New Brunswick will be assisting the Muchui Womens Group on their accounting practices. Teresa Mellish will be monitoring all groups.

Drip irrigation ensures Muchui women have kitchen gardens

What a change there has been in the kitchen gardens of the Muchui women. Despite the fact that the rest of the garden is yellow or brown , they each have a small area that is green with vegetables for their family use.

We saw kale, onions, and tomatoes being grown using the water from the drip irrigation tubes lying close ot the ground. The drip irrigation emits drops of water from holes placed every few inches where plants are strategically located to benefit from the water. The rest of the garden is very dry.

Ten years ago I visited this area in May and none of the women had kitchen gardens because it was so dry. I returned home to PEI at that time to plant my own kitchen garden and I knew I would work towards the Muchui women having their own kitchen garden for their families.

It is still very dry in this area but the drip irrgation technology is appropriate for them to grow kitchen gardens. Their families' diets are improved with the production of kale for theiur sukuma wiki.

Teresa Mellish

UPEI Nutrition Student Interns

Submitted by Colleen Walton

Doreen Pippy and Sharla Goodwin, both 3rd year nutrition students at the University of PEI, have embarked on their investigations to analyse the diet of the Ruuju Primary and Kirua Boys school students. They will compare the amounts of "protective", "energy" and "body building" foods consumed by the children to those amounts recommended by the Kenyan government who has adopted WHO recommendations. They will interview students and their mothers and will provide education sessions for the mothers, the school cooks and students. Their results will help Farmers Helping Farmers to work with the schools and the womens groups in their crop diversification efforts to introduce new crops and technologies to the area in an effort to improve the nutrition of the students.

Martin Gikunda is getting married!

Yesterday we attended the pre-wedding party of Martin Gikunda and his fiancée Fetha Mukiri. The pre-wedding party is a fund raiser for the wedding which is to be held on August 23rd.

A similar event on PEI would be a community shower. The difference here is that the whole community is invited and are encouraged to make cash donations through the auctioning of yams, chickens, and plaques (with religious sayings) to be hung in your home.

Martin is the horticulturist with the Muchui Business Centre. Fetha is a teacher. Both Fetha and Martin have university degrees in agriculture.

Both Damaris and Salome assisted with the auctioning along with members of Martin’s church.