Using Agriculture to combat Human Trafficking

Today as we were tilling around the watermelon shoots that have just come out of the soil, I was making small talk with the casual labourers on my 3 acre farm in Olturoto, Kitengela, Kenya. Our ideas led us to what the Deputy President said about agriculture; that it holds the key to rural growth, that they want to reverse rural-urban migration to urban-rural migration as young people go back to the farms. This got me thinking of the simple math that they are applying; if 80% of Kenyans live in the rural areas where they are farmers and 80% of Kenyans are poor, then simply improving the Farming profession is the key to double-digit growth! It sounds simple but there are great other supporting sectors of the economy that need to also be improved for agriculture to have a bigger impact. Sectors like infrastructure in terms of roads and markets as well as industries for processing the farm produce.

Agriculture can greatly contribute to poverty alleviation and food security. Poverty and unemployment are the biggest factors that make people vulnerable to human trafficking. In one fell swoop, improved agricultural practices and processes would provide employment in the rural and urban farming areas as well as lift the 80% of Kenyans who are farmers out of poverty. It would also change the perception that farming is for old men who have retired, uneducated people and rich ranchers. So as I cintinue to farm my small shamba, I will also conduct a campaign to create awareness on human trafficking and in it provide agriculture as one of the solutions to mitigate the factors of poverty and unemployment that make people vulnerable to human trafficking. This also ties in with my vision to inspire a million new farmers in Africa.   

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The Kenya Feed the Future Innovation Engine

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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Tractors and the long rains

The long rains are here and this signals the start of the planting season but like me, a lot of farmers are finding themselves not yet ready to plant. Yesterday was my day looking for a commercial tractor to plough my 3acres and the situation out there is that the tractors are so busy its hard to secure one. The problems in finding a tractor every time I have to plough is becoming a daunting task which makes me think that it would be lucrative to have a tractor for commercial purposes. This is not only convenient for me but also for all the farmers near Olturoto,Kisaju and Kitengela in dire need of tractor services. With a good and honest driver, such a venture would prove to not only be profitable but also helpful to the community. I hope to be able to purchase one myself or through a joint venture with neighbouring farmers. This will go a long way in ensuring that farmers have an easier time farming and this would make me a happy neighbour. Long live the Co-operative movement!      

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Land Rover Farming

I am currently waiting to purchase a 1968 series 3 Land Rover for my farming activities and I'm really excited about the prospect of that. First of all, its the original hardmetal body that Land Rovers are famous for, secondly its a petrol engine and unlike diesel engines, these vehicles don't have a tendency to develop severe engine troubles as they age. Thirdly, it can't get stuck in mud anywhere, its a real offroad vehicle unlike these soft SUVs and pickups we have on the road these days. The real work that I want to do with it is transport Managu (African Nightshade) to Kitengela market which is about 15Km from our farm in Olturoto near Isinya on the Kitengela-Namanga highway. We are just about getting a tractor to come and plough the 3 acre farm.

The beautiful thing about Managu as an indigenous vegetable is that it takes a month to mature. It needs irrigating and since there is a borehole in the farm next door, we are laying down pipes to connect our farm to the water grid. The last crop I had -which was technically my first crop- was Dengu (Green Grams) but these were stunted during the growth stage due to a shortage of rain in November-December last year. They had been advertised as drought tolerant but that turned out not to be so.

Being a new young farmer, I know I still have a lot to learn about farming so I take this dissapointment as a lesson. Despite the loss, I am re-investing myself again into the farming big time. I'm going in hard just like the 1968 Land Rover which is still on the road 45 years later. Even when things don't work out the first time, never give up, always keep going!

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My Article in HortFresh Journal

I had earlier posted photos of my article titled "Youthful Ambition" but here is the link to the article in full. http://hortfreshjournal.com/editorial_opinion/opinion9.htm Enjoy it and share it with a friends or frenemies :)

Disappointment

Disapppointment is a pretty powerful emotion that can even render you immobile and make you quit. Disappointment comes when we don't get the results that we expected and thus frustration rides in as if on cue. Its been a dry season and the short rains didn't come as I had expected. This in turn has denied my crop of Green Grams (Dengu) the much needed water at this half-way point in their growth. The crop has thus been stunted and unless it rains well in Kitengela soon, I am afraid I won't have enough harvest to cover my costs. The Green Grams had been advertised as drought tolerant but it seems that this drought has outrun them.

This however being only my first crop, I can't afford to be discouraged. I have known from the start that I could get burnt and the best thing to do from here is to learn from this occurrence. The major lesson here is that rain-fed agriculture is the reason we are perenially hungry and for any serious farmer, irrigation has to be the ultimate option. I will thus have to set up a proper irrigation system before the next crop. The good thing about our farm is that there is a borehole on the farm adjacent and the owner is a family friend and has given us the go ahead to tap water from his borehole. I was thinking of planting water melons for the next season but I was advised that if the melons -which mature in three months- are harvested during the april long rains, they will run the risk of getting damaged by the wet weather. I am weighing my options and one of them is Dania (not sure of their English name but they are used as food seasoning along with onions).

Like I was saying earlier, this disappointment is a mere speed bump on the road that doesn't give me the luxury to sit around and mope. From here on, I'm rolling up my sleeves again and its the pedal to the metal. Im going hard!  And on that rejuvenated note, I send you seasons greetings, Happy Holidays.

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Youthful Ambition

I have decided to title this blog post after my article in the November issue of Hortfresh Journal, a horticultural Magazine (pictured).

I am really excited about this accomplishment because I was invited to write the Editorial opinion on page 1 of the magazine. This is such an honour because other than exercising my journalism muscle, I am also flexing my farming muscles. Farming is a very new venture for me and I have made it my personal mission to attract a million young people into farming. Through a platform like Hortfresh Journal, I see my goal beginning to become visible in the distance. A big thank you to the editorial team led by Joseph Karanja. To get yourself a copy of Hortfresh Journal for 250bob, talk to Carol on 0752-007253 or 0723-308725 or go to www.hortfreshjournal.com for leads in Horticulture. 

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