The project costs for 10 groups of small-scale tea farmers are Ksh1,052,100 (or €8,166). The donations will enable us to recruit farmer groups whom we have not yet reached due to limited funds. The donations will be used for:

• Mobilisation and forming of 10 farmer groups of 15 members each.
• Training farmers in agro-ecological agriculture techniques like composting, soil maintenance and livestock methods, as well as in cultivating kitchen gardens.
• Providing seeds and planting materials to farmers.
• Follow-up visits immediately after group training to ensure farmers are applying the techniques they’ve learned during trainings.
• Conducting baseline and endline surveys among trainees to help measure impact.
• Project staff allowances, transport and training materials (around 30% of total project costs).

The specific villages that we intend to target in Kagwe are Githogoiyo, Kamahindu, Gachoire, Matimbei and Githirioni.

During implementation, besides training composting and kitchen gardening, we have also incorporated other farming techniques like;

1. Making of biofertilizers that are very effective on production of horticulture crops
2. Value addition – avoids wastages and increased shelf-life of the produce, and increase income.
3. Detergents making – helps to improve on their hygiene and sanitation. They also can make income from selling the detergents. These detergents include jik, Dettol, liquid and bar soap.

The seeds distributed were diverse hence the farmers had options to select from depending on their seed of interest.

We expected 150 small-scale tea farmers and their families will improve their well-being by producing their own foods and thus saving money or earning money when they have a surplus to sell at the local market. The saved and earned extra money will further improve their lives by for example, expanding food production or taking their children to school.

From the first results we indeed see that:

• The farmers now have fresh supply of vegetables from the kitchen gardens. And they diversify to have different vegetable varieties that offer nutrition value, like indigenous vegetables, kales, spinach and cabbage. One recipient specifically reported to have improved her health due to consumption of organically grown food in her kitchen garden. Remarkably, in the group discussions we heard about reduced instances of hospital visits due to food contamination!
• The project has helped the trainees to save on the costs of purchasing fertilisers which is very expensive. They are using locally available materials to make compost manure, biofertilizers and bio pesticides.
• In addition, we can already see that from the first groups trained, that farmers now don’t need to buy vegetables and that’s a benefit as they are able to reduce on the costs of their daily expenses.

In addition, the training specifically resulted in:

• Each farmer group started a demonstration farm that has a compost site and a kitchen garden and it’s also the place where the group members meet and work on the farm together and share about their farming experiences and how they can grow together.
• Around 70% of the first 4 groups have already replicated the techniques on their own farm, like the multi-story gardens that are easier to manage and beautiful to look at. We expect the percentage to grow with the farmers who missed our sessions, due to personal circumstances. We don’t expect all farmers to adopt the new technologies, because a few lacked the commitment for it.
• The farmers make use of new technologies for them; the biofertilizers are an alternative to help the farmers to shift from chemical fertilisers and pesticides.

Longer-term, we expect that the farmers can market their vegetables locally and earn an income. That is how the entire community benefits from the increased food security as there will be healthier and more affordable food that will be made available through kitchen gardens. In turn, this will contribute to better well-being and reduced poverty levels among community members.

Results we already see are:

• On average 830 family members (will) benefit from more food and healthier food on the table.
• Some farmers are now able make a small income from selling of vegetables to their surrounding neighbours. In future, more farmers will be able to do that, as being in a group and meeting regularly in their demonstration farms enables the farmers to share and learn even about the available markets locally and even outside their zones.
• The farmers also engage family and neighbours to the demonstration sites to come and learn. By December already 320 small-scale farmers were reached indirectly.

By 31 December 2021, we have trained 4 farmers groups with a total of 64 farmers. With the second funding phase, running up to end of March, we have recruited and are working with 4 more farmers groups. This now makes a total of 8 farmers groups we are currently working with a total of 166 small-scale farmers which includes:

1. Kagaa Amani (20)
2. Kamuchege (20)
3. Miumia (14)
4. Mwihoko (10)
5. Kiangima (29)
6. Mukuyu Kienyenji vegetables (20)
7. Kamuito Gathanji SHG (23)
8. Giachumi SHG (30)

From our experience working with tea farmers, we realized that most of them own three acres of land and below where they have their homestead, tea plantation and livestock and in our context, they are classified as small-scale holders. In our case, these farmers rely on tea for everything and forget that they can set aside a portion for kitchen garden for their subsistence food. This is the reason why we identified this as a gap and decided to work with them as beneficiaries for this project.

We have so far, reached the target number and even exceeded the number with 16 farmers because the groups recruited later have many members.

Follow up

From our experience working with tea farmers, we realized that most of them own three acres of land and below where they have their homestead, tea plantation and livestock and in our context, they are classified as small-scale holders. In our case, these farmers rely on tea for everything and forget that they can set aside a portion for kitchen garden for their subsistence food. This is the reason why we identified this as a gap and decided to work with them as beneficiaries for this project. We have so far, reached the target number and even exceeded the number with 16 farmers because the groups recruited later have many members.

Direct outputs of the training:

• The farmers have improved on their farm layouts as they have been trained on different farming techniques like raised beds, vertical gardens and planting methods.
• The groups did not have knowledge on organic farming which they now have and appreciate it very much.
• The farmers farms are now well planned compared to previously when they did not have the knowledge.