Current Projects:
Support to the Wakulima Self-Help Group Dairy
Background:
This project is located in the Nyeri District of central Kenya, north of Nairobi. In 1990, about thirty small-scale local famers, with dairy herds of one to five cows each, came together to set up a self-help group, similar to a cooperative, for the primary purpose of marketing their milk. Farmers Helping Farmers began assisting the Wakulima Self-Help Dairy in 1997.
Initially, the Island organization purchased a bulk cooling tank to enable the Kenyan farmers to store and refrigerate their milk overnight. This had an immediate impact on farm income, since they were able to market the income from two daily milkings, not just one. Thus farm income was immediately doubled! From there, Farmers Helping Farmers has continued to work with the group, helping find ways to enhance herd productivity and milk quality. The Wakulima Self Help Group Dairy now has 5000 members who sell up to 20,000L of milk a day worth approximately $6000 CDN. There are an additional 4000 local residents who utilize the resources of The Group. There are over 35,000 family members that belong to, and are directly influenced by the production of, the Wakulima Dairy Group members. The Group is now considered a leader amongst Kenyan dairy producers, recognized for their production expertise and used as a model by government officials for future development.
Project Impact:
The effects of this project have had a dramatic impact on the district. Through hard work and determination the Dairy members have enhanced their livelihoods and those of others by putting money directly back into their community. With 80 people now on staff, the increased employment has created many economic spin-offs in the region. The effects will continue to be realized as more and more local children are able to complete their education. The Dairy now owns and operates:
- A milk-receiving and -cooling station, which now has a heat exchanger capable of utilizing the heat removed from the milk to heat water used for the cleaning and sanitization of the milk cans used for milk transport
- A feed store and hay storage barn
- A SACCO (a credit organization) for the purpose of borrowing money
- A fleet of transportation vehicles
- A veterinary service equipped with a full-time veterinarian and supplies
- An artificial insemination service
- A milk quality laboratory
- An agronomy extension unit, including a full-time agronomist who uses demonstration plots and fact sheets to help educate the farmers about improving their production
- A basic resource store
- A meeting and administration facility
Over the course of our projects, these improvements have led to:
- An increased number of cows per farm from 1.5 cows to 2.9 cows
- An increased number of calves per farm from 0.9 calves to 2.6 calves
- An increase in milk production from 8.9kg/cow/day to 9.2kg/cow/day, which was significant considering Kenya experienced a severe drought over the past year
- A reduction of mastitis by one third as a result of donated teat dip to every dairy producer
The introduction of ensiled forage in plastic bags has had a tremendous impact on production. The farmers are now able to harvest their forage at the optimum time for nutritive value, store it safely, and later feed it to the cows during the dry season. The continued partnership with UPEI’s Atlantic Veterinary College, in which three fourth year veterinary students per year complete a rotation in International Agriculture, has ensured that the latest developments in dairy health and production are practiced in this region.
Farmers Helping Farmers latest project will provide a dairy feed mixer for a new feed mill that will improve the quality and consistency of the dairy feeds to the producers. Bio-gas units will be installed on fifty farms that will compost cow manure and supply cooking fuel to the farms. The bio-gas units will reduce the amount of trees needed to be cut for firewood, reduce the amount of money spent on cooking fuel and will save the women a tremendous amount of labour hauling firewood.
Wakulima Photo Gallery:
Muchui Women's Group Tree Nursery Project
Background:
The members of the Muchui Women's Group live near Mt. Kenya. In recent years, this area has been hit hard by drought and famine and the women have struggled to provide food and water for their families and their livestock. There is no ground water in this area. The Muchui Women's Group was started in 1992. Farmers Helping Farmers, with the help of generous donations from people in Prince Edward Island, supplied a water-catchment tank to each woman in the group. The water is collected during the rainy season, stored safely in these poly-plastic tanks and used during the dry season. The money saved from not having to purchase and haul water has been used for other household expenses, such as school fees and medical bills. Water availability has also improved livestock production.
Project Impact:
The 61 members of the Muchui Women’s Group, which represent 610 family members, have made significant progress since Farmers Helping Farmers assisted them in installing the water tanks. Each member received 2000 seeds of various tree species to germinate and grow into seedlings to sell. Farmers Helping Farmers provided them with the necessary gardening tools, such as wheelbarrows, shovels, rakes, watering cans and fencing supplies.
Most of the members received initial training from government forestry officials. Most of these women have taken further education at the KARI Station, near Theka. There, they learned to graft macadamia nut seedlings, banana and passion fruit trees. Today their inventory includes tree varieties such as mango, papaya, eucalyptus, grevillea, banana, passion fruit and macadamia nut trees. A mature macadamia nut tree can produce a crop worth $100CDN. Currently, their primary focus is supplying the demand for the macadamia nut trees.
A portion of their income also supports Group projects. They have completed the construction of a business centre which has provided a centralized location to sell their tree seedlings and given them a site to develop their resources. The building has no electricity but is powered with solar energy, which charges the computer battery and provides light on overcast days. In our most recent project, staff will be hired that can demonstrate improved horticultural practices. These practices will include composting that will increase soil fertility and introducing new drought-resistant crops, which have higher nutritional values. Marketing of the members cash crops will continue to be an integral part of the program.
Many of the 62 members now have water lines that supply clean water -- from a stream high on Mt. Kenya -- directly into their homes. Each member also has a plastic, rodent-proof, grain-bin to store harvested grain: This frees the members from selling the crops directly from the field for necessary income, often having to purchase it back later -- at a higher price. Many small successful projects and attention to business management have helped these ambitious, industrious women achieve their goals.
Muchui Photo Gallery:
The Ruuju School Project
Background:
The Ruuju Primary School is in the Marega community, about twenty miles from Meru, Kenya. There are approximately 10,000 residents in the area and this school educates approximately 450 students from 120 families. Although these families grow a considerable amount of maize (corn to North Americans), they must travel long distances to collect their water for domestic use. This project intends to introduce a wider variety of food crops to the community using sustainable practices that have been successful in other projects. The school will be the focal point for developing community knowledge. The school will then benefit from the project by being able to use the food produced in a school lunch program for the students.
Project Impact:
The school building is well suited to rain water collection because it has a large sheet metal roof, which can collect a large amount of water in the rainy season. This collected water is stored in the large plastic containers similar to the ones installed by the Muchui Women's Group. In
addition, several grain storage tanks were installed to hold maize and beans purchased in the harvest season, when they can be bought at lowest cost. The community members were involved in the construction of the bases on which the water tanks will stand and cleared the land in preparation for the vegetable garden and fruit nursery. They are also responsible for harvesting the mature grain. Damaris Kinya, a local horticulturalist, has been hired to oversee the project, providing general guidance and expertise. She has started a 4K (4H) Club for approximately 30 to 40 children. who will hold demonstration days to show the community their crop production results. The 65 members of the Ruuju Women’s Group will be able to apply the best practices from this program at home, which in turn will benefit 1800 people directly. Vesey’s Seeds, a well-known PEI company, has donated seeds for spinach, cabbage, beets, carrots, Chinese cabbage, and tomatoes. Beans and maize seeds, plus the fertilizer and crop protectants, were purchased locally. The garden produce provides a nutritious lunch for the school children. The teachers have commented that the children are learning better as a result of being well-fed.
Ruuju Photo Gallery:
Karibu: Two Easts A School Twinning Project
Background:
When several of our Farmers Helping Farmers members went to Kenya in 2002 to visit our agricultural projects, we began to realize the impact our projects were having on the local schools. In the Nyeri district, for instance, the added income resulting from the expanded Wakulima Self-Help Group Dairy project enabled more of the members’ children to go to school. The parents could now afford school fees and uniforms, or could get access to small loans through the Dairy to pay the fees. In Meru, the impact was just as positive. One woman, who was a water tank recipient from Farmers Helping Farmers, remarked tearfully, “I can now get my children to school, clean and on time!” It demonstrated to the Canadians the high value Africans place on education! Several of our members therefore made a commitment to share what they had learned in Africa with schools in our own Canadian province by developing a school-twinning project.
Project Impact:
Schools from agricultural project areas are now successfully twinned with nine Prince Edward Island schools and two church/school partnerships. They are:
- Morell Consolidated School - Mwati School (2002)
- Miscouche Consolidated School - Gathukimundu School (2002)
- Vernon River Consolidated School - Khuti School (2003)
- Montague Senior High - Meru School (2004)
- Tracadie Cross – Kinyenjere Primary( 2008)
- Three oaks Senior High – Ndunyu (2008)
- Stonepark Intermediate School – Ithanji (2008)
- Prince Street School – Matuto Primary ( 2008)
- Southern Kings Consolidated School – Mutwewati Primary (2008)
- Kensington United Church Sunday School - Kamuketha Primary ( 2008)
- South Shore United Church Sunday School is partners with Ruuju Primary ( 2008)
Students from each school exchange letters and photos that encourage a better understanding of each other, including different cultures and global issues. We estimate that over 4000 students are being reached by this project. Farmers Helping Farmers acknowledges the generous financial donations from many individual Islanders and especially the Rotary Club of Charlottetown Royalty and the annual Dunes Café Harvest Lunches that support Karibu:Two Easts. Additional support from the Prince Edward Island Twinning Schools, the Prince Edward Island Department of Education, and the management committees in Kenya have also helped make this project successful. This opportunity will benefit students, teachers and their communities for years to come.
The University of Prince Edward Island has been working closely with Farmers Helping Farmers to send pre-service teachers to complete their international practicums at the twinned schools in Mukurwe-ini. The warm ties already established through the twinning project, as well as the support offered by FHF, have made this international practicum experience an ever-growing and popular choice by UPEI pre-service teachers. Since 2004 the twinning schools in Kenya have hosted twenty-four pre-service teachers. A strong component of the international teaching practicum is the community project. Through these projects, Mukurwe-ini community and schools have received help with a new soccer field, soccer clinics, uniforms and equipment, a school library, AIDS information kits and videos, computer training, and even assistance with planting their gardens!
In 2008, Island school children, community groups, youth groups and Islanders in general have donated sufficient funds to provide our twinned schools with:
- Books and school supplies
- cookhouse and fuel efficient cooker for a primary school
- kitchen gardens for school lunch programs
- Fruit trees for schools
- A latrine specifically built for the needs of female students
- Mosquito nets
- A cow for a secondary school
- Four laptop computers ( through One Laptop Per Child program) for use at a primary school and for their community outreach project
- Salaries for two primary teachers
- Two water tanks
Karibu Classroom Photo Gallery:
"Global Classroom Initiative"
Connecting Classrooms and Communities for Global Awareness
Another Success Story
February 2008 update
"Connecting Classrooms and Communities for Global Awareness" units are now being integrated in to the PEI school curriculum at six areas/levels of study with teacher in-service completed for four of the six units.
In August 2005 Farmers Helping Farmers began the project "Connecting Classrooms and Communities for Global Awareness" in partnership with the P.E.I. Department of Education; the Faculty of Education, University of Prince Edward Island; the Prince Edward Island Teachers' Federation, and the Eastern and Western School Boards, and with funding assistance from CIDA’s Global Classroom Initiative.
This project has resulted in global education curriculum units for PEI students at the 3, 6, 9, and senior high level. Each year these units have a potential audience of 5,500 students (1500 at each selected elementary/intermediate grades, and 1000 at the secondary level.)
CIDA provided funding for $80,000 towards this project which had a total budget in excess of $200,000. The project partners covered the remaining expenses in both cash and in-kind contributions. The Farmers Helping Farmers Education Committee fundraised more than $24,000 to meet the project's commitments.
A team of four PEI teachers and a Farmers Helping Farmers member were selected to work with a coordinator in the development of these units. To gain knowledge of a developing country, this team spent three weeks in Kenya in March 2006, learning as much as possible so they could speak to some extent from an experiential base.
In each unit, global development themes such as the impact of poverty, AIDS, malaria, gender inequalities, land use, water concerns, education, war and conflict are addressed in an age appropriate manner. As these themes are addressed using stories of peers in developing countries, using Kenya as a specific example, students carry out a variety of activities that lead to a greater understanding of their roles and responsibilities as global citizens. In addition, students explore ways in which Islanders and other Canadians, as individuals and organizations, are involved in assisting developing countries, with particular attention to the ways Canadians assist Africans in dealing with these development issues.
A team of teachers across PEI were involved in field-testing the draft units. Several field-test classes developed global awareness action plans and made a ‘difference’ through individual and small group activities. One example is the efforts of Summerside and Montague Intermediate schools in raising funds for malaria nets for several hundred students in Kenyan schools.
The completed units may be viewed at http://www.edu.pe.ca/global_ed/ or under Teaching and Learning Resources on the PEI Department of Education web-site at www.gov.pe.ca/educ/
The project was completed in April 2007 and officially launched in October 2007. After twenty-five years of successful development work in rural Kenya, Farmers Helping Farmers is very pleased to have had the opportunity to participate in this effort which will bring greater global awareness and understanding to PEI students.
Global Classroom Photo Gallery:
"The Othaya Dairy Cooperative Society Limited Project"
Background:
 The Othaya Dairy Cooperative operates three dairies within its region to serve its membership of 1386 members. Each member has one to five cows on their shambas. Farmers Helping Farmers hopes to implement many of the successful projects and governance design into the Othaya Dairy Cooperative to assist them in obtaining their goals.
Project Impact
Central milk cooling will be installed, an education program will be put in place on milk production and nutritional management, and the Dairy management will be assisted with infrastructure and training to provide better services to their members. Families will be able to improve their income by improving their dairy management. It is projected that these three dairies should have a combined daily total income of $15,000 that will be divided amongst 8,300 farm families.
"Farmers Helping Farmers Council Project"
Background:
The Farmers Helping Farmers Council has been registered as a Society under the Kenyan Societies Act. The Council currently includes three representatives from the Wakulima Self-Help Group Dairy, the Muchui Women’s Group, the Ruuju Women’s Group amd the Embu Dairy Group Cooperative Society Ltd. Mr. Shaad Olingo, the Farmers Helping Farmers agent acts as an impartial Council Secretary. The Council combines two project partners that have been working together with Farmers Helping Farmers since 1997 and two that are relatively new partners. The Council provides a unique learning environment for everyone. The older partners are able to mentor the newer partners and the new partners provide incentive for the older partners to continue to improve and progress.
Project Impact
The Council has met four times per year since 2004 and has developed a constitution, elected an executive, and developed a budget. Each of the member groups pays an annual fee for the running of the Council, in addition to the funds provided by FHF. They have provided training for the council members on good governance, including human relations, communication, financial accountability and representing their membership.
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