Most of the farming we do is all about extracting from the soil. But there is a growing number of farmers who make sure they give back to the soil more than they have extracted.

Last September, I got to travel to Makueni and Tharaka Nithi Counties in Kenya’s former Eastern Province to see how farmers working with Canadian Foodgrains Bank – a partnership of 15 Canadian churches and church-based agencies working together to end global hunger – are improving their livelihoods through farming practices that don’t harm the soil they depend on.

Cluster Farmer Groups in Kathonzweni

I started this photography assignment in Makueni County where CFGB has partnered with UDO to improve the livelihoods and farming practices of farmers in the county.

In Kathonzweni, one of the agriculturally rich locations in Makueni, farmers who live close to each other are put into clusters in which they are trained on farming diversification and financial management while being connected with markets for their produce.

In Kwakavisi, I met members of Kaki Cluster Village Savings and Loan Association at one of their regular group meetings. The group, which started in 2016, has 26 members who pool their funds in a kitty from which members can borrow money for personal use like purchase of farming supplies and home improvement.

Under lock and key. Their ‘bank’ has three padlocks whose keys are kept by three different officials for safety and accountability.

Members contribute funds at every sitting and records are kept to show who contributed what and when.

Keli Kathiu Wambua, a member of Kaki Cluster Village Savings and Loan Association got to borrow some money from the association.

Elected officials keep records of the group’s transactions for accountability.

Because of infrequent rains in the location and with training received from UDO, Francisca Mbai, a member of Kaki Cluster Village Savings and Loan Association, has picked up poultry farming to supplement income from her harvests. She purchased the chicken through a loan she received from her Cluster.

Francisca has also purchased a water tank to harvest rain water for home and farm use.

I met Justus Wambua Mang’oka feeding goats at his home in Kwakavisi. Using funds received from Miangeni Farmers Association of which he is a member, Justus bought goats which have since multiplied.

He plans to sell them at the local market to supplement income from other farming activities.

Justus is currently building an extension to his home. He purchased iron roofing sheets with income from his farming.

The smiling beauty is Mutheu, Justus’ daughter.

Linking Farmers with Partner Organisations

One of the benefits that farmers working with UDO have is being connected with ready markets for their produce, and organisations that can supply them with implements to improve their harvests.

At a stakeholders linkage meeting for Maluini Cluster still in Kathonzweni, I found Joseph Masila conducting training on seed selection for the group’s 28 members.

After the meeting, members were invited to purchase seeds in readiness for the coming rains.

Makueni Mangoes… Mama Mia!

Eating mangoes from Makueni has been compared with tasting a piece of heaven. I agree 100%

Before you take a bite, a lot of work goes into making sure the mango trees are healthy and will produce the heavenly slices that you’re already salivating over.

That’s where agronomists like Alphonce Kamolo from UDO step in.

I found him at Daniel Mukeku and Florence Kyuvi’s orchard checking the health of their crop.

In the next couple of weeks, you and I will have juice from these mango trees dripping between our fingers down to our elbows.

Agronomists Riding to the Rescue

With farmers living kilometres apart in farms connected by a poor road network, agronomists from UDO always found it hard to visit different farmers to offer much needed training and farming support.

So CFGB partnered with UDO to acquire motorbikes that make farmer visits more frequent and easier, with agronomists now able to cover wider areas and reach more farmers on a single day.

Samuel Makenzie, an agronomist from UDO is one such beneficiary. He rode into Josephine Mwikali Mutinda’s farm in Kathonzweni to check on her conservation agriculture farming.

After checking out her mango orchard, chicken, rabbits and goats, it was time to visit the next farmer in his itinerary.

For Josephine, the training received from UDO has helped her venture into poultry farming and cuniculture.

Cuniculture is a posh way of saying rabbit farming. WikiPedia describes it as the agricultural practice of breeding and raising domestic rabbits as livestock for their meat, fur, or wool. Now you know.

Income from cuniculture has helped Josephine supplement what she makes from her maize harvests.

Ballot Box to Food Box : Conservation Agriculture in Tharaka Nithi

The mention of Tharaka Nithi brings back memories of how a little-known constituency provided tally-tipping votes for the incumbent president during the 2007 General Elections in Kenya.

Today, the county is providing a growing list of food crops for domestic and international markets thanks to the work being done there by National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) in partnership with CFGB.

It was a pleasant surprise to see NCCK working with farmers here. I previously thought they were only involved in church planting and spreading the Gospel. My heart was delighted to see a team of amazing individuals uplifting farmers through different support programs.

Better Farming for Better Harvests

The first farmer I visited was Peninah Mwikamba at her farm in Turima Tweru. Peninah is a Principal Lead Farmer, trained to pass on conservation agriculture knowledge to other farmers in her locality under an NCCK training initiative. In the image above, she is with Morris Mwaki, a Senior Agronomist with NCCK.

Peninah shares the knowledge she receives with other farmers like Harriet Gatiria.

Using water from a nearby river, Peninah is able to irrigate her farm.

Still in Turima Tweru – which loosely translates into ‘white hills’ because of the colour of the soil on them – I met Jeremy Nyagha using an ox-drawn plough to till his farm. The beauty about his method of tilling is that it doesn’t unnecessarily disturb the soil, locking in necessary nutrients for future planting seasons.

Maasai and Governor are Jeremy’s champion tilling bulls.

Just like in Makueni, CFGB has helped agronomists reach farmers like Jeremy by facilitating the acquisition of motorbikes.

Onesmus Kithaka, an agronomist with NCCK, rode in on his for a scheduled visit to Jeremy’s farm.

After having a meeting with Jeremy and checking his tillage was in line (pun unintended but works perfectly) with the training received, Onesmus was back on his bike and off to visit another farmer.

For me, it was back on the road and on to the next farm.

In Mwanyani, I met Gerald Ndumpa and his wife Susan Karea in their luscious green maize plantation.

Gerald is a Principal Lead Farmer. The training he passes the training he receives from NCCK to other farmers in his locality.

As I packed my cameras to move to the next location, Gerald and Susan gave me some maize from their previous harvest to carry home.

Their kind gesture moved me to bits!

A short drive away, David Mbithi was tending to cabbages at his farm in Kamurethu.

Maize and cow peas intercropped in David’s farm.

Just like Peninah and Jeremy, David is a Principal Lead Farmer.

Conservation Farming Meets Technology

The world’s most popular camera device – the smartphone – has revolutionised how NCCK agronomists serve the farming communities in Tharaka Nithi.

With the support of CFGB, NCCK acquired smart phones for their Principle Lead Farmers. By equipping them with the knowledge on how to take photos of incidents they encounter like suspected crop infections and sharing the images with the NCCK, agronomists are now able to respond on the fly to farmers’ queries. What would take a scheduled visit in already packed agronomist itineraries, is now resolved with a photo and a phone call.

Where as people in urban centres have years of experience using a smartphone, for many Principle Lead Farmers, this was their first time using one. So they were called to a hotel in Mukothima for a smartphone use training session.

Robert Gikunda, an agronomist with NCCK, led the training session.

The training covered topics like purchase of data bundles, using the camera app and how to send messages via WhatsApp and other messaging applications.

Waiting for the Rains

As my visit to Tharaka Nithi drew to a close, I crossed dry river beds – thirsty for the end year short rains – on my way to Chiakariga.

Even thirstier were the farmers tilling their lands and planting seeds with the faith that the October – November short rains would fall and turn their parched brown farms into lush green plantations.

One such farmer is John Njage Kamwara. I found him digging a rain collection trough to collect rain water which he plans to use to irrigate his farm.

Together with his wife Monica Kariungi, John dug holes, planted seeds, poured manure, covered up the holes and prayed for the rains.

John adding manure to the planted seeds.

Seed holes are marked using a string to keep them in a straight line and equidistant from each other. OCD heaven.

I pray that Monica and John’s infectious joy overflows into harvest time, thanks to the coming rains.

As I left Tharaka Nithi heading back to Nairobi, I reminisced the moments spent getting to know farmers in Makueni and Tharaka Nithi; men and women who have improved their farming methods that give back to the soils more than they take out.

Knowing that church based organisations like CFGB and NCCK were behind the wave of conservation agriculture made me even happier because it is indeed more blessed to give than to receive.