The small garden occupying about an eighth of an acre is a beautiful sight to look at. On one side of the garden are neat rows of cabbages planted next to a bumper crop of beans inter-planted with maize. One can tell that the maize was planted recently because at the extreme end of the […]
It is apparent that the success a farmer gets from a certain crop is dependent on many other things besides just rain. In Masinga, the farmers have ascertained that apart from rain, fertilisation and cultivation, the method of land preparation also matters a lot. Techniques such as deep digging and double digging go a long […]
Kivaa hill is not an ordinary hill to the people of Matuu as Mzee Munguti Kavivya, chairman of the sacred sites protection group says, “The hill represents the strides we have taken as a community to protect our fragile ecosystem.” “This hill”, he points out, “was the source of rich traditional remedies used by our […]
Janerose Kairuthi and Judith Mwendwa have one thing in common – they are both members of Jitegemee Agricultural Development Group which was established in 2009. The group is involved in the cultivation of indigenous food crops, rabbit rearing and dairy cattle farming. The one hundred member group has come from far. “My husband and I […]
Kiitho kya Mawithyululuko is an all-women umbrella body with 153 members engaged in bio-intensive organic farming, poultry keeping and basketry. But these women are not just any other group trying to irk a living out of small agricultural enterprises – a closer look reveals that they only grow indigenous food crops using natural methods of […]
James and Salome Wagara hail from Kamburu village in Central Kenya. The couple owns a small piece of land where they live and farm. Tea is a major crop here alongside dairy cattle keeping and chicken rearing. It has been tough these last few years for the Wagaras. “The rains have not been very reliable […]
Elijah Kamau teaches biology at Maina Wanjigi Secondary in the Eastlands area of Nairobi. Eastlands is home to almost seventy percent of the slums in Nairobi. Elijah is involved in a project sponsored by the Institute for Culture and Ecology (ICE) to promote the planting and care of indigenous trees and crops in secondary schools […]
Ntakira water group was started in 2012 in February as an initiative by a group of women to provide access to clean piped water to the community. With an initial membership of only seventeen, this seemed like a daunting task considering other bigger groups in the locality with over two hundred members had failed. “This […]
Magdaline Wambui Mitugo comes from a past full of emptiness and dependency. Now the chair-lady of a vibrant one hundred-member Kamburu Institute for Culture and Ecology (ICE) Women Group, she talks of their long journey from isolation and insignificance to a present now full of hope and prosperity. “If there is one thing we can […]
Rosemary Muthoni Kago is a living testimony that nature has solutions to the problems that befall its inhabitants. When Rosemary was diagnosed with diabetes a few years ago, life for her seemed doomed. “I was told I had to eat a lot of foods with natural sugar to boost my sugar levels”, Rosemary says. For […]