Women’s groups adopt latest techniques to boost their harvests and income
On the outskirts of Kenya’s capital city of Nairobi lies a small plot of land in the densely populated suburb of Dagoretti. Here Christian Aid, through our local faith-based partner Beacon of Hope, has been training women ‘urban’ farmers in new techniques to help ensure they have enough food to both feed their families and sell for an income.
Christian Aid’s local partner Beacon of Hope has used ‘demonstration plots’ to train members of six women’s groups in climate adaptation techniques, to boost the number of crops they can grow and harvest at home.
Also by providing women farmers with a plot of their own to grow crops, the project is empowering women and tackling discriminatory attitudes that mean women do not typically own their own land. According to the Federation of Women Lawyers, Kenya, while nearly 90% of the small-scale farming labour force in Kenya are women and 70% of cash crop labour production is provided by women, only 1% of land titles in the country are solely held by women while 5% of land title deeds are held jointly by women and men.
Belinda Kasudi is a member of the 14 strong Kilimo Bora self-help women’s group. In addition to learning new farming skills, Belinda explains that the demonstration plot also allows her group to grow extra vegetables to sell as a collective.
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Hunger is a challenge in the area. Most families only eat one or two meals a day.
"The space that we had at home was very small for farming so the project has given us an extra space where we can farm. The project is helping a lot because we are able to harvest, provide more food for our families as well as sell as a group and make more income,” Belinda added.
Through the project, our local partner has also provided the groups with training on how to market, brand and package their produce so that they can sell it directly to the public. As Belinda explained, selling the vegetables that they grow as a group helps members make more money.
"We no longer use middle men, we sell direct to the market. In our first harvest we got 7kg’s and each kg cost 100 Kenyan shillings. So we got 700 for the first sale.”
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Growing crops with less land and water
The women’s groups have also been trained in a technique called ‘hydroponics’ which allows vegetables to be grown directly on pumice stones instead of soil, requiring less land and water than if they were to be grown conventionally in a farmers’ field. This allows farmers to grow more crops within limited spaces, which is very important in densely populated Dagoretti, which is home to over 430,000 people.
The pumice stones are provided through the project, and members tend to their seedlings with affordable nutrient powder.
Beatrice Amuko, from the Ministry of Agriculture in Nairobi, explained the benefit of hydroponics. She said: “The unique thing is that it is soil-less farming. Hydroponics addresses land scarcity.”
The one here has 300 plants. You can imagine 300 plants in the open field, you would need a very big space to grow them.
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“At home, I have grown vegetables using plastic troughs and also in sacks because of the limited space,” Belinda said.
Rosamond Bennett, CEO of Christian Aid Ireland, visited the Kilimo Bora self-help group’s demonstration plot in June. She said: “Christian Aid exists to create a world where everyone can live a full life, free from poverty and this urban farming project really embodies this approach. The project is having a real impact on the lives of people who are living in a densely packed, impoverished community where both hunger and a lack of land are significant challenges. This project is putting more money in the pockets of local women as well as putting fresh, nutritious vegetables on the dinner table for their families.”
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Kenya is very much a country on the climate crisis frontline. Following the worst drought in decades, Kenya was recently hit by heavy rains and flooding which killed more than 300 people and impacted over 300,000 more. Belinda’s own home was flooded, destroying both belongings and crops. Thankfully she was able to replant after the water receded.
Christian Aid’s Country Director for Kenya Janet Ngombalu explained that being able to grow food at home helps families to cope and bounce back from extreme weather events. She said: “Over half of all farmers supported through this project said that food shortages was a worry for them and many were not eating three meals a day. Food has become very expensive, especially since the flooding. Having home gardens is a way out of poverty for people.”
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