A dozen volunteers heading to Kenya for 2024 projects
Donkeys and chickens are at the heart of two new Farmers Helping Farmers projects in Kenya, and both have enthusiastic volunteers from Canada eager to make a difference.
Dr. Martha Mellish is a member of the Mellish family who helped to found the P.E.I.-based non-profit charitable organization that has been working in Kenya for more than 40 years.
Mellish is an Atlantic Veterinary College graduate (2005) who now specializes in equine reproduction and ambulatory services. In Kenya, her focus is on donkeys.
The Donkey Project started in 2023, with Martha and other volunteers, including Anne Aloi, seeing between 15 and 20 donkeys a day. They were able to try a prototype harness on one donkey. The harness will balance the load and make the donkey teams more efficient and comfortable.
“Working donkeys are undervalued and overlooked all over the world, especially in developing countries,” Mellish said.
Mellish said there are more than a million donkeys in Kenya that serve as 'beasts of burden'.
“The donkeys in Meru County, Kenya pull carts loaded with goods in teams of two abreast or carry jugs of water on their back,” Mellish said.
“They are incredibly efficient draft animals and survive with minimal care.”
Mellish said the goal of the Donkey Project is to help make life better for these important animals.
“If we can help the donkeys through health clinics, owner education and working towards an improved harness design, we will hopefully be doing them a service,” Mellish said.
The work with donkeys will continue during the upcoming FHF trip to Kenya. Dr. Mellish will be joined by AVC student Anya Floyd. They are calling themselves “Team Donkey”.
Chickens are another new and fascinating focus for FHF volunteers.
Dr. Victoria Bowes is a poultry veterinarian with a special interest in small flock poultry medicine, based in the Fraser Valley, an hour east of Vancouver, B.C.
She also has a specialized veterinary practice "Small Flock Poultry Health Services" on Gabriola Island and has provided extension services to poultry owners and non-poultry veterinarians for more than 20 years.
She was recruited to FHF when Dr. John VanLeeuwen took her poultry course at the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association’s annual conference.
In 2023, Dr. Bowes and Dr. Jill Wood, a volunteer veterinarian from P.E.I., hosted several poultry health seminars for the Meru County Women's Group focused on kuku, the Swahili word for chicken. The sessions were enthusiastically received and had an element of playfulness when Dr Bowes rewarded "questions I can't answer" with a candy treat. The women were quite imaginative in their questions and the first "stump the vet" question was "how much sorghum can chickens be fed?" to which Dr Bowes replied "I don't have a clue, you deserve 2 candies!"
In the first phase of the Poultry Project, FHF distributed 10 hens of the new "improved" breed of laying hen that has higher egg production and less broodiness than the traditional Kenyan breed. Ten women in each of the 10 Women's Groups received their new flock, and FHF provided local support to ensure the health of the small flock.
‘“Women farmers in Meru County are eager to start raising this improved breed of chicken,” Dr. Wood said.
“Not only will increased egg production improve food security for their families and provide a wholesome source of nutrition for the children, but it will also increase the household income through egg sales.”
On this trip, Dr. Bowes will be working once again with local FHF ag tech Eric Munene to develop a sustainable replacement pullet program, and a simple record keeping program.
Dr. Bowes says the long term goal includes the development of a Kenyan FHF poultry manual, similar to what FHF has done for dairy.
Bowes adds: You just have to love "kukus".
The trip by FHF volunteers to Kenya follows a very successful Holiday Campaign for the P.E.I-based non-profit, which raised more than $90,000 from generous supporters.
The 12 travellers will be sending photos and blog posts so donors will be able to see their contributions in action during the upcoming trip to Kenya, and the difference they have made to the well-being of farm families and school children in Meru county.
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