On Friday March 22, 2013, I was in Kitengela to see a family friend about borrowing some of his building stones which lay in a pile on his farm adjacent to ours in Olturoto along the Kitengela-Namanga highway. He declined my request but he gave me something more important! A piece of information that I know will change the lives of many farmers like myself. He showed me an Advert in a local daily about an Innovation Engine from @USAIDKenya that they are launching to improve the status, income and impact that Kenyan farmers have on poverty alleviation and food insecurity.
I was excited about the prospect of being part of this Innovation Engine. This is given that earlier in that same month of March, I had done a blog post on how, if I had the resources, I would equip farmers in my neighbourhood with a tractor to help them with their income and food generating activities. This is because I am passionate about inspiring a million new farmers in Africa as a solution to poverty and food insecurity and equiping groups of farmers with tractors is a nice place to start.
So I did a proposal outlining an idea that will equip farmers who are members of The Vision Self-help Group in Olturoto with a tractor. The tractor will be an income-generating asset for the group as well as act as a labour-saving technology for the women farmers who form 75% of the group's 80 members.
I am scheduled to present the idea formally at the group's monthly meeting on 7th April for it to be adopted and thus give me the greenlight to send the proposal to USAID. I look foward to being their Innovation Champion and bringing this tractor home :)
To get your hands on more information about the Innovation Engine, go to www.kfie.net
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