AGRICULTURE
In western Kenya, agriculture is the backbone of livelihood and life. Nearly every family we support are farmers in one way or another.
With a diversified, thriving farm comes better nutrition and higher income. On full stomachs, children can focus on learning, and parents on working. And with enough bounty from the land, a family can earn more for their other needs.
HOW WE SUPPORT FAMILIES IN
AGRICULTURE
RIGOROUS TRAINING ON SUSTAINABLE, CLIMATE-RESILIENT AGRICULTURE
Regenerative and conventional farming methods for plant and animal health:
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Monthly small group training sessions with neighborhood groups, to share new knowledge and challenges overcome
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Personal, twice-monthly farmstead extension visits by UKR's farm officers, to assist and guide farm development, help resolve problems, and ensure a thriving farm
EXPOSURE TO NEW FARM
PRODUCTS AND METHODS
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Field trips to business and model farms, to see and learn hands-on about new approaches and technologies
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Participation in creating a demonstration farm, learning while working with fellow members of a UKR neighborhood group
PROVISION OF NOVEL SEEDLINGS -
FRUIT, FODDER, TREES, AND CROPS
Families in our program receive seeds and seedlings to plant, and they often usher the beginning of a whole new farmstead.
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Fruit seedlings such as avocado, banana, and papaya, which bear fruit in 1 to 3 years.
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Fodder seedlings, with high protein and fast growth, to help animals grow stronger and produce more without buying costly feeds
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Veggie seeds and seedlings of many types to grow, multiply, eat, and save seed.
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Hybrid (not GMO) crop seeds to aid families who can't easily afford trying new and marketable crops like eggplant or carrots.
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Tree seedlings, for shade, soil fertility, erosion control, timber, boundaries, medicine, and so much more.
ASSISTANCE BUYING TOOLS, INPUTS,
AND FARM ANIMALS
Through families' personal, flexible-use 'Family Care Budgets,' UKR provides resources to help them invest in their farms.
Families can draw on this budget for whatever agriculture goals they set, and prove themselves capable of achieving.
In farming, a family might ask for help buying a wheelbarrow, a pregnant goat, a fishpond liner, or twenty pounds of peanut seeds. Every family's goals and needs are different.
On average, families receive $306 to develop their farms over the course of their 3 years in Family Care.
The challenge
Western Kenya is a crowded agricultural area, with a population density equal to many American suburbs. With climate change and ever-more depleted soils, it’s an increasingly difficult place for subsistence farmers.
Traditional systems passed down from long ago don’t work with tiny plots and a changing climate. Choosing the best times of year to plant is now pure gambling, and there is no longer any land left to leave fallow.
For many adults, their great-grandfathers had 100 acres of land. But their grandfathers only had 20 acres, and their fathers just had a few acres. Farms get smaller as they are divided among sons, per tradition. Previous generations may have sold off some land to outsiders, compounding the problem.
Today, the poorest families are often left with a fraction of an acre to host their home and grow their food. On this small piece, other barriers to success may include:
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Limited knowledge & exposure - to new crops, methods, or markets
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Natural obstacles - like depleted and acidic soil, or steep and rocky terrain
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Climate change effects - droughts, floods, hail, and pests
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Lack of resources (to start with) - it takes money to make money, even on a farm
Something must change. Innovations are needed for families to sustainably produce enough for today, and for the future.
Common strengths that families
can leverage:
Most of the families we serve bring backgrounds and attitudes that can help them thrive in agriculture, if they have the right support. These strengths often include:
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A lifetime of experience working the land
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A parent's unwavering resolve to feed their children
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A tropical climate that rarely falls below low-50s degrees or rises above mid-90s, with more annual rainfall than both Portland, Maine and Portland, Oregon -- combined
Our holistic approach
We believe that with the right support, families can leverage their strengths, overcome their challenges, and make their farms thrive.
With exposure, training, mentorship, and resources, families can both regenerate their land and produce more to eat and sell in the present. And we’re seeing it happen, each and every day, in all the community zones where UKR works.
I have surplus harvest... [and] enough to eat with my family. Sleeping hungry
is now a thing of the past.
Josephine, UKR mother
