Today’s update comes from Daniel Wanjama, Seed Savers Network Kenya (SSNK) Founder and Director. SSNK is a grassroots NGO headquartered southeast of Nakuru in Gilgil who works with resource-poor farmers to promote sustainable rural livelihoods. SSNK has strong support for local community groups, providing access to agricultural training, good vegetable seed, tools, and other resources. We recently connected with Daniel who told us about some of the work he’s been doing with the village of Emkwen.
Emkwen Village
Emkwen Village is a farming community located in the Loboi area of Baringo District in west central Kenya. Arid rocky terrain, acacia trees, and shrubs cover the majority of the District. The natural landscape makes this area prone to drought and food shortages.
Farmers in this region predominantly grow maize because they can easily access maize seed from a local seed company. After harvest, farmers sell back every seed they produce to the same company. This creates a monoculture farming structure, limiting the development and transmission of farming knowledge for non-maize crops. Since farmers are not growing nutritionally-diverse crops, they need to fill this gap by purchasing nutritious food at the market. Maize farming leaves farmers with some money, but not enough to purchase the nutritionally-diverse food needed throughout the year.
“We only do farming because we are at the farms, not because of the profit we get.” – SSNK Farmer
Last year, more than 200 farmers from over 50 farming groups from the Loboi and Sandai areas of Baringo District received seeds from SSNK for farming and to start seed saving. With your support, our partnership with SSNK was able to provide farmers with kale, spinach, tomato, cucumber, cassava, cowpea, sweet potato, pumpkin, sorghum, amaranth, and vegetable other seeds. In addition to providing seed, SSNK trained farmers on seed production and pest control to enhance future seed multiplication.
The Emkwen Farmers’ Group meets every Thursday to coordinate their collective finances and share farming ideas. As part of a strategy to diversify their crops and improve nutrition and income, they have taken to saving seeds. The group participated in an SSNK seed saving training in April 2019 after meeting with an SSNK extension officer during a project launch in Kiborgoch. (Kiborgoch is a conservancy in their area where seed savers are invited to share knowledge and learn new skills.) By putting this training into practice, farmers are growing and consuming locally-produced vegetables, saving seed, and gaining extra income from selling their harvests and seeds.
Miriam
Miriam is one of the officers for the Emkwen Farmers’ Group. She is 76, and her homestead sits on one acre of land where she lives with her husband, six children, and three grandchildren. Miriam depends on this farm to feed her family. Through SSNK, she has learned how to raise vegetable seedlings and keep her garden healthy by managing pests and diseases and maintaining soil fertility.
Early on, Miriam volunteered a portion of her farm as a demonstration garden for tomato production. This investment yielded both tomatoes for her family and seeds that she can plant in future seasons or sell to nearby farmers. Miriam testifies that seed access and training have greatly impacted their family’s health and income. The sale of her tomatoes and seeds allows her to pay the school fees for her grandchildren, and she can purchase the food she needs that she does not grow herself.
“I hope to plant more and more vegetables that I have gotten through Seed Savers. I can now plant tomatoes anytime, because I have saved enough of my own seeds. Seeds are expensive, but now farming has been made easy through Seed Savers. Come next time, you will see the diversity in my farm. We are happy now, because we will be seed secure.” – Miriam
Seed Is the Origin of Life
When families have better access to resources like training, food security, and nutrition, they tend to invest more in education, and the health of their family. This causes a ripple effect of benefits that strengthens the entire community.
As another farmer, Grace, shares:
“The program has really changed the lives of many farmers. If they were all allowed to share their stories, there would be too many to tell. Surely seed is the origin of life, and the program has allowed farmers to gain food security and improve their health through nutrition.”
We will continue to report on this community and others, partnering with SSNK as their farming projects continue to evolve.
For now, thank you from our partners, who have improved access to water, seed, and tools as a result of this project. And always, our thanks to everyone who has supported this project.
Sweet Blossom Gift and the SPI Team
Women's empowerment initiative 