PUBLIC FINANCING FOR AGRICULTURE (PFA) KENYA

Success Stories

ForewordActionAid International Kenya (AAIK) is a Non-governmental Organization (NGO)

working in Kenya since 1972 to facilitate processes that eradicate poverty and

ensure social justice through development programmes, local institutional capacity

building and public policy influencing. AAIK has been implementing a National and

County advocacy project known as Public Financing for Agriculture (PFA) in order to

build on Actionaid’s long-term work on Livelihoods and Food Rights.

The purpose of the project was to advocate for increased and quality investment in the agriculture sector particularly towards smallholder women farmers through building their capacity to engage in advocacy and campaign initiatives at local and national levels to address the root causes of food insecurity in the specific counties and the country at large. The project worked with county and national women smallholder farmers’ networks for policy influencing, strengthening farmers’ institutions and dialogues on creating an enabling environment in the agriculture sector.

The project was a three-year Gates Foundation funded initiative, implemented in Kakamega, West Pokot, Baringo and Migori Counties in Kenya. The objectives of the project include:

1. Provision of training and capacity building support to women’s and farmers’ organizations at the local, county and national levels to help empower them to monitor public spending for agriculture, and use the information to effectively engage in advocacy at county and national levels.

2. Establishing baselines and undertaking annual assessment of government expenditure within the agricultural sector at the national and county levels. Make such analysis available in a form appropriate for engaging key partners and for use in advocacy with government officials. Support farmer organization and civil society organizations (CSOs) in undertaking budget tracking at county and national levels for improved public resource utilization and quality services in the sector.

3. Influencing county and national level officials for increased public spending on agriculture and for such spending to be directed to interventions that best support smallholder women farmers.

In a bid to meet these objectives, PFA came up with a number of strategies that were introduced to the women farmers’ networks including:

•Partnership with research institutions and other organizations to map current agricultural budgets at national level and allocations to specific communities in the four mentioned counties

•Capacity-building of smallholder women farmers’ organizations and other partners to understand and monitor their county budgets, discuss implementation with local authorities and make recommendations to tailor spending to the needs of Women Smallholder Farmers (WSHF)

•Support the formation of the National Network of Smallholder women farmers and to aggregate the results of local analysis and advocacy, and engage with parliaments, agriculture ministries and other parties involved in implementation of national action plans.

The advocacy strategies used by PFA in Kenya include:

•Engaging the county leadership in ensuring that they prioritizes the issues affecting the smallholder women farmers are addressed and the smallholder farmers are allowed to participate in the in the budget process.

•Building partnership with research institutions and agricultural bodies

•Mobilizing the community farmer groups to come together and form a network

•Capacity building of smallholder women farmers on the budget tracking, social auditing, advocacy, cooperative movements, agribusiness and media engagement.

This booklet therefore seeks to document stories that highlight PFA’s strategies, processes and actions that worked effectively for women smallholder farmers in Kakamega, West Pokot, Baringo and Migori Counties in Kenya in line with the above objectives.

The successes of the project vary from enactment of effective legislation governing agriculture, increased budget allocation, formation of women-managed agro-entrepreneurship, profitable agro-based enterprise for women, successful engagement with county governments leading to commitment by the government officials to address issues raised by WSHF.

There has been overwhelming success in all the four counties that implemented the project in Kenya and this booklet seeks to highlight some.

Contributors

Ruth Epwoka

Cynthia Waggah

Alice Kimani

Copyright 2015

The Women MovementHuruma Womens’ Group is a dynamic organization that comprises 20 active smallholder women farmers, six of whom are widows. Primarily they are a smallholder farmers’ group that grows sweet potatoes, bananas and keeps animals but recently

ventured into value addition of sweet potatoes.

This was not the case a few years back before the commencement of the project. They were anguishing in poverty with wanting food security.

During the implementation of PFA, one of the women attended an exposure visit to Molo where she learnt about value addition of sweet potatoes. Upon sharing with the rest of the group, they realized they were sitting on gold mines considering

that they grow a lot of sweet potatoes in their area.

“Most times we would sell our sweet potatoes to middle men at a throw-away price and did not understand the concept of value addition. We knew we wanted to fight poverty and educate our children but did not know how to go about it. As women we had no voice in our community for women were not allowed to voice our opinion in the society,

let alone start a profit making enterprise, “said Mary Matinde, the group’s secretary.

“We started humbly as some members would bring their sweet potatoes which we would boil using firewood and process it to make a few mandazis for sale. With more training we approached the government and applied for Uwezo Fund and Women Enterprise loans which we were awarded and it helped

Members of Huruma women group

showing cake made of sweet potatoes

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“We used the grant to

buy for each member

cattle. This group is

a true example of the

power of an empowered

and focused women

moving forward,”

said Maria Mwita, a

member of the group.

us expand our business. We now use cooking gas to process our sweet potatoes and the number of mandazis we prepare per day has tremendously gone up. We have also diversified into making sweet potato cakes for sale. Business is good now because we also have an office where the community can visit to enjoy our products,” she explained.

Their great influence in the community earned

them recognition from the government, who gave them a grant through the Ministry of Social Services.

“We used the grant to buy for each member cattle. This group is a true example of the power of an empowered and focused women moving forward,” said Maria Mwita, a member of the group.

Members of Huruma women group preparing

sweet potatoes for value addition

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Farming as a Business Margret Nyokorema Ndera is a 49 year widow, mother of seven, who hails from

Bikarabwa Village, Bukira South Location of Migori County. She is a member to

GOCESO Women’s group; a group made of 45 small holder women farmers who

have benefited from PFA.

“In four acres of land I would get three bags of maize. This was because we were using poor agricultural practices like the use of broadcasting method (scattering seed by hand over a relatively large area). We did not use any fertilizer and we also did not weed our maize. We had no training on modern agricultural practices and we were scared of government officers and offices. This meant that we could not even get extension services leave alone knowing their availability. We also did not see the need for using fertilizer because according to us, we knew if you plant a seed it would grow and did not need fertilizer to grow. The three bags could only last my family for at most two months leaving us hungry the rest of the year,” narrated Margret.

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Their community being patriarchal, the women did not have a voice in the society and did not venture into any kind of enterprise. They only depended on their traditional agriculture to feed them leaving most women to live in abject poverty and with low or no dignity.

“But with the coming of PFA, we learnt about how to engage the county government. This gave us the confidence to walk into the county agriculture office and demand for the services of agricultural extension officers. I am glad to say that the officers came to us in our farms and taught us good agricultural practices. From the proceeds of my farm I joined other women and we started bee farming that has got us out of poverty,” recounted Margret.

GOCESO Women’s group joined other women’s groups in their area under the umbrella Goosora Bee Keepers to start up

Margret Nyokorema Ndera with her bee hives

a successful honey business that oversees the sale of honey packed in the well labeled 500ml pack. Goosora Bee Keepers is made up of 370 smallholder farmers who are mostly women. These women harvest the honey from their farms and take them to collections centers where it proceed and packed. A 500ml pack goes for ksh. 350.

“...with the coming of

PFA, we learnt how

to participate during

county government

public hearings. This

gave us the confidence

to walk into the county

agriculture office and

demand for the services

of agricultural extension

officers. The officers

came to our farms

and taught us good

agricultural practices.

From the proceeds of

my farm I and other

women started bee

farming that has got

us out of poverty,”

recounted Margret.

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Migori County Smallholder Farmers’ Network Migori County Smallholder Farmers’ Network (MICOFAN) boasts of more than 750

smallholder registered farmers mostly made up of women. They came together to

form a cooperative under the name MICOFAN to cater for small-scale farmers in

Migori County who had for long being exploited by unscrupulous middlemen. As

farmers who had benefited from PFA training especially on cooperative movements

they took it upon themselves to train other farmers on the importance of being in a

cooperative and recruited the farmers in their cooperative.

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“PFA helped us to understand the power of numbers and we noted that when we went to negotiate with the county officials, they were keen to know our numbers and when they knew we were few they would dismiss us. This prompted us to use the lobbying skill that we had learnt during PFA trainings to get more smallholder farmers to join our advocacy for better agricultural services especially to smallholder women farmers. Once we had the numbers, we registered our group as a cooperative,” said Sabina Atieno, the Assistant Chairperson of MICOFAN.

As a cooperative, the farmers were able to negotiate for space in the Agricultural Show in Migori County with the Ministry of Agriculture to showcase their products for free bearing in

mind that it would have cost them at least ksh. 6,000 to hire space leave alone other overhead expenses. They were fully sponsored to showcase their products at the agriculture show.

“One thing that really helped us especially when advocating the county officials for increased public spending on agriculture is the ‘sim card technology’. Through this we have a special sim card that we use to send messages to our members informing them of the budget hearing date in their sub counties and urging them to agitate for an increased budget allocation for agriculture. We have a long way to go but we believe we are up to the task,” insisted Sabina

Sabina’s sentiments were echoed by Mary Oruda, a member of the cooperative who said that they are grateful to PFA for all the trainings and exposure visits that it took them through. She further said as small holder women farmers they have been empowered and can now stand on their own and campaign for increased budget allocation for agriculture in their county.

Sabina Atieno with the jug and Mary Oruda at

the Migori Agricultural Show Grounds

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The Human Rights Defender

Florence Ayuma is a 60 year old widow

who hails from Eshiasuli Village, in Kisa

East Ward, Khwisero Sub-County. She

is a member of Kakamega Smallholder

Farmer’s Network (KASFAN) which has

been fighting for the rights of the smallholder

woman famer by social auditing agriculture

projects in Kakamega County, carrying

out advocacy of smallholder farmers and

budget tracking of public funded projects.

She has approximately two acres of land which was previously owned by her late husband as an inheritance from the extended family. She is fondly known as Mama Maendeleo (Woman of development) by her village mates because through her initiatives and involvement with farmer groups, networks and county leaders, the village has benefited from information on their rights.

“Many smallholder women farmers in Kakamega County could not afford fertilizer that they needed to grow their food. We were forced to grow our crops without fertilizer thus got low yields. Efforts to get small quantities of fertilizer also proved to be difficult. But the day I got training on advocacy from PFA, I decided to be a farmer’s rights defender. I vowed to stand for the poor women farmers who were getting a raw deal,” narrated Florence.

A bag of 50 kg Mavuno fertilizer was going for a subsidized prize of Ksh. 1,800 but the quantities were too large for smallholder women farmers to afford. As a result, they could barely harvest enough food to feed their families. Florence’s situation was

made worse by the fact that she was a widow who was battling in-laws who did not want her to access her late husband’s land. The county government had not involved the smallholder farmers in the decision of packaging the fertilizer meant for them.

“I mobilized women farmers to join KASFAN in carrying out a demonstration in Kakamega town to demand for our right to be involved in the agriculture budget process and right to be involved in deciding the kind of agriculture services we want prioritized. This made the County Government to promise to make available affordable fertilizer in time and in small quantities of 10 kg to farmers at the ward level. Today we negotiate with the government, which was unheard-of. We will forever defend the poor woman farmer,” concluded Florence

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Florence, the Rights Defender

“I mobilized women

farmers to join

KASFAN in carrying

out a demonstration

in Kakamega town

to demand for our

right to be involved

in the agriculture

budget process and

right to be involved in

deciding the kind of

agriculture services

we want prioritized.”

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Kakamega Smallholder Farmers’ NetworkAlice Imbalambala is 52 years old mother of seven who hails from Ebuhala Ikoko B

Village in Khwisero Sub-County. Alice is the chair person of Kakamega Smallholder

Farmers Network (KASFAN), a Network responsible for mobilizing smallholder

women farmers in Kakamega County to come up with a cooperative named

Khwisero, Emuhaya and Butere Co-operative (KEBUT). The cooperative seeks

to link banana farmers to the market and integrate them through a value chain

development of tissue culture bananas in Kakamega County.

Alice explains how KASFAN works

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“As a network our voice is recognized more, when we approach the county government to raise an issue as a group. We receive the much needed attention and the issue is taken for further discussion and we are given feedback. The network is happy to have influenced the decision of the county to incorporate farmers in committees set up by the county assembly and now we are sure the voice of the smallholder woman farmer will count in decision making,” said Alice.

Alice further said the network has also been able to network and open collaborations with institutions which are helping them in bettering their farming. After an exposure visit to Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture (JKUAT), the group was able to form linkage with the researchers at the university who have been giving them current and new information on agriculture. They are also able to seek answers on things which they do not understand especially diseases and pests which affect their crops. They receive useful advice from the researchers.

“In the past, the researchers have picked samples from

us for testing and advised us on areas to improve on soil and crop management. This has changed our attitude and we take the guidance of the experts well. We are now the community leaders in agriculture and our advice and opinion is sought and respected. This has helped other women farmers adopt modern farming technology, like growing tissue culture banana,” concluded Alice.

“As a network our voice is recognized more,

when we approach the county government to

raise an issue as a group. We receive the much

needed attention and the issue is taken for

further discussion and we are given feedback.

The network is happy to have influenced the

decision of the county to incorporate farmers in

committees set up by the county assembly and

now we are sure the voice of the smallholder

woman farmer will count in decision making. “

Alice at her banana farm

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Margret, Trainer of TrainersMeet Margret Atemo a 56 year old mother of five from

Mughaka Village in Kakamega County. She is a farmer

who underwent various training under the ActionAid’s

Public Financing for Agriculture project to emerge as a

Trainer of Trainers (TOT)

“Before I went for the training offered by Action Aid my farming was at a loss. I did not understand that the land I was sitting on had lots of potential if only I worked wisely on it. Often I had hard time growing indigenous vegetable and did not understand its economic value. No help was forthcoming until I joined Kakamega Smallholder Farmers’ Network (KASFAN),” said Margret, a member of KASFAN.

KASFAN is an umbrella body that has over 50 smallholder farmers drawn from seven groups in Kakamega County. It has for years advocated for access and control of land by women living in poverty and exclusion in a bid to improve their livelihood.

“After going for the training to become a TOT I have played

host to an agriculture field day as model farmer where members of the community came to learn from my farm. Most women have picked practices and skills I have demonstrated in my farm. I have also hosted agriculture students from Kenyatta University who came to learn about growing indigenous vegetable. I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would teach University Students leave alone host them in my home. The training by ActionAid, especially on Leadership and Advocacy helped me to take up the challenge of empowering my community on land and its use,” explained Margret with a smile on her face.

Margret is now encouraging more farmers in her area to grow indigenous vegetable for sale as a way of fighting

poverty. “I am happy that the training I got from ActionAid got me out of the claws of poverty,” concluded Margret.

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“After going for the training to become a TOT I have played host

to an agriculture field day as model farmer where members of

the community came to learn from me. ... I have also hosted

agriculture students from Kenyatta University who came to

learn about growing indigenous vegetable.The training by

ActionAid, especially on Leadership and Advocacy helped me

to take up the challenge of empowering my community on land

and its use,” explained Margret with a smile on her face.

Atemo at her vegetable farm

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Woman Adopts Farming in Baringo County Jenifer Cheboywo is a 46 years old lady married and

with seven children. She lives in Kapchesul village,

Baringo Central Sub-County in Baringo County. She

farms on a two acre land owned by her husband.

Baringo County is generally a dry area which receives

very little rainfall or none during the main rainy seasons.

This has not discouraged Jenifer from venturing into

farming to feed her family and sell at her kiosk at the

shopping center. On her farm she grows a variety of

crops.

“I did not understand farming methods very well. My community is mainly pastoralist whose main economic activity is herding cattle. When I joined Kasetugaa Womens’ Group, I did not know what to expect. I was told it is a farmers group so I just joined. We went for an exposure visit in Kuria, Migori County to see what other women farmers were doing. I realized farming can be of economic benefit if taken seriously. I really wanted to venture into it but water was a problem, but I had seen during that visit a man-made well where women fetched water. I decided to dig mine. Fortunately at only 70 feet I was able to get water and I knew my dream of farming would be realized, “narrated Jenifer.

On coming back home she maintained contacts with Kuria women farmers and they kept exchanging ideas on how to

better their farming. She started planting traditional vegetables, tomatoes, pumpkins and bananas.

Jenifer said, since she had a constant supply of water, she was getting enough to feed her family and surplus to sell at her kiosk. Women in her area have been saved the long treks in such of water. Jenifer allows them to come get water from her bore hole.

“I thought of opening a kiosk at the shopping center to sell my surplus farm produce. This has earned me income and keeps me busy during the day. PFA has walked with me through this journey. I am able to supplement my family income. My daughter is in college and I am able to give her pocket money and bus fare to school whenever she needs it. PFA has truly transformed my life into a farmer. Who knew I would be a successful farmer one day?” asked Jenifer, with a smile.

“I thought of opening a kiosk at the shopping center to sell my surplus

farm produce. This has earned me income and keeps me busy during

the day. PFA has walked with me through this journey. I am able to

supplement my family income. My daughter is in college and I am able

to give her pocket money and bus fare to school whenever she needs

it. PFA has truly transformed my life into a successful farmer.”13

Jenifer harvesting tomatoes from her farm

Inset : Jenifer at her well

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Agricultural Social Auditing in BaringoLoise Chepkonga, 60 years, is a woman small

holder farmer from Kererem village, Baringo Central

Sub-county in Baringo County. She is a member of

Seetkobor women group. The group started in 2012

and currently engaged in various farming activities

including fish farming, chicken raring and dairy farming.

“I have learnt a lot from the trainings we received from PFA especially on Budget Tracking. Under budget tracking, we were taught about social auditing. It involves monitoring public funds to ensure they are used on what they were intended for. We were trained on undertaking surveys within the community on various issues. We realized that the community had a withdrawn perception and were less informed on the role of the county and we had to do something about it,” explained Loise.

Seetkobor Women Group was given a grant by ActionAid to social audit the Njaa Marufuku (Ending Hunger) project in Kenya. Njaa Marufuku was a government funded initiative that aimed at combating hunger in Kenya. The aim of the audit was to ascertain whether the targeted families received the intended support to improve their livelihood and increase food production. Different farming groups were given money to enable them carry out agricultural activities that will ensure communities are food secured. Being a public fund there was need to have an audit to find out if the funds were properly used.

The group did a social audit and presented their findings to the Baringo County Government. In the report they made their recommendations to the county government, who committed to looking into it. More awareness creation meetings are still

taking place in a bid to ensure the community is aware of how the Njaa Marufuku fund was used. This was done in the background of a community where women were considered second class citizens for many years. These women stood up and did the audit

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“I have learnt a lot from the trainings we received from PFA especially

on Budget Tracking. Under budget tracking, we were taught about

social auditing. It involves monitoring public funds to ensure they are

used to what it was intended for. We realized that the community

had a withdrawn perception and were less informed on the role of

the county and we had to do something about it,” explained Loise.

Loise at the fish pond.

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Women Farmers Showcase at Agricultural ShowThe Baringo Agricultural Show gives a chance to

farmers and farmer groups to exhibit their produce and

technology to the public. They also learn about new

products in the market from the show. The officials

of Seetkobor women group, Anne Kurui, chairlady,

Secretary Eglah Kipyangoi and Treasurer Christine

Chepkwony were at the show to exhibit their dairy

goats.

As a women group, we wanted to take our exhibition to the show ground, but we could not raise the required ksh 5,000 per day to get a stand. We decided to approach the organizing committee and sell our idea and the uniqueness of our project on dairy goats. We were able to engage with the county committee organizing for Baringo Agricultural Show by explaining the benefits of such a project especially to women farmers. The committee considered our request for a free space and we were given a space to exhibit our project on dairy goat without any payment of any fees, Anne Kurui explained.

The women had two female dairy goats to exhibit which attracted public attention. This is because apart from nutritional value of the goat’s milk which produces two liters per day, they do not require a lot of care and they therefore suit women who are busy with children and other household activities. They also produce kids after short duration and if well fed, they have potential to bear twins which multiplies them quickly. They are sold at high price per kid and they feed on less fodder compared to cows and traditional goats.

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Eglah Kipyangoi at the show

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Women Farmers Engage County GovernmentMeet Stella Ruto, a small holder woman farmer from Kapkut Village, Baringo Central

Sub-County in Baringo County. She is the chairlady of the Baringo Women Small

Scale Farmers’ Network (BAWOSFAM). The network has 40 groups as members

with membership of over 4,000 women in the whole county. It was started in 2012

but registered in 2013. They have been able to have a strong link with the county

government.

“We came up with a service charter which we presented to the county government after undergoing training by PFA on how to draw them. The charter was signed and is on course for implementation. The charter lays down service delivery expectations to farmers by the county. Through our advocacy with the county we hope the budget on agriculture moves from the current 7% to 10%. With the increased budget more smallholder women farmers will get the required agricultural services,” said Stella.

The network has used several strategies to get linkages with county leaders, to draw their attention to issues affecting farmers and to engage them in finding lasting solutions to some of the challenges.

“For one we consistently attended public participation in budgeting process. We have also held meetings with County Secretaries and Members of County Assembly to lobby for resources to meet farmers’ demands. Lastly, we have written proposals to the county government on projects which need financial support and made presentations during various agricultural field days”, Stella further said.

The group received green houses from the county government. This has enabled them to have production of vegetables throughout the year since they are using modern drip irrigation methods as a way of conserving water. They have a constant supply of vegetables to schools and government institutions who buy from them.

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The community has been using free range animal raring for as long as they can remember. The women groups have adopted Zero grazing of cows which gives them better milk yield per animal. They also keep dairy goats which gives them nutritious milk.

“.....Through our advocacy with the county we

hope the budget on agriculture moves from the

current 7% to 10%. With the increased budget

more smallholder women farmers will get the

required agricultural services,” said Stella.

Stella at her home.

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Woman Embraces TechnologyNaomi Kato is a 24 years old mother of one.

She is hails from Kapsagar Village, Kapsait

sub-location in West Pokot County. Naomi

has been rearing chicken for the last five

years and has faced many challenges

in her venture. She lives in Cherangany

hills which are covered with forest and

therefore the daily weather is cold and it

rains most of the time. This affected her

chicken especially the chicks which died

due to excess cold. They were also eaten

by predators like hawks while outside.

The houses which they used were not

protecting them from cold and predators.

“When we were receiving training on agribusiness, the facilitator kept challenging us to think outside the box and I did. One day while sitting down with two of my lady friends, I thought out the idea of constructing a small house next to the traditional fire place known as Nkono

Naomi feeding her chicken

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so that the chicks can be warm at night which is when the cold worsens and kills them. I was determined to succeed in the chicken business. I extended my fire place in such a way the chicks can get warm and are safe from fire. I made a small hole for their free movement to their safe house outside. This means the chicks are safe from hawks and they remain warm and grow very first. I usually let the chicks stay with their mother for one week, then take them away into this fireplace house. The mother then can lay eggs quickly. That way I have been able to increase the number of chicken I have in the last one year. I now have 15 hens eight of them are laying eggs. I sell my eggs in the market and also feed my family with. I am able to buy other household items from the sales. I sold this concept to all the women in my group for they all rear chicken. They bought it,” explained Naomi, the Secretary of Kapfakar Women Group.

She also would like to sell her eggs at a better price. She sells them at ksh 300 per tray (3$) which is low.

“We have heard of a cooperative in Kapenguria of chicken farmers and so we

Naomi explaining how her technology works

I thought out the idea of constructing a small

house next to the traditional fire place known

as Nkono so that the chicks can be warm at

night which is when the cold worsens and

kills them. I was determined to succeed in the

chicken business. I extended my fire place in

such a way the chicks can get warm and are

safe from fire. I made a small hole for their

free movement to their safe house outside.

This means the chicks are safe from hawks

and they remain warm and grow very first.

are in the process of joining it. This is because Actionaid, told us that in order to improve our chicken business, we have to link up with other chicken farmers and speak with one voice. This way, we will get better prizes for our products, engage the county government in matters affecting our business and thus improve our livelihoods,” concluded Naomi.

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Esther Nikson at her farm

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The Exposure Visit Esther Nikson she is 50 years old woman who is married and has

12 children. She is a member of Setat farmers group which is an

affiliate group of POKASE (Pokot Kopulio Akiriamet Setat) network

of farmers. She is from Kapsagar village, Kapsait sub-location,

and south pokot sub-county in West Pokot County.

Esther joined the group and received training on better farming methods which she applied in her farm. Before joining the group she did not get enough to feed her family and in many cases the produce would be depleted before the next farming season thus forced to buy food from the market. She has now leant how to use her land well and sell her surplus produce to the market. She mainly plants potatoes and cabbages on her three acres of land.

“I did not know I could earn income from my farm. We went for exposure visits in other counties and exchanged ideas with other farmers which I have adopted and my farm is now producing over 30 bags of potatoes which I am able to feed my family and sell in the market. The money has allowed me cloth my family well and I can buy clothes for myself too. Before, I only relied on my husband to give me money and to educate our children. Now I am able to support him in paying school fees. I am also able to understand how the county allocates money and how the money allocated for agriculture is used. The training I received has helped me to link with service providers who give me information on pesticides to use on my crops leading to better produce” concluded Esther

“I did not know I could earn income from

my farm. We went for exposure visits

in other counties and exchanged ideas

with other farmers which I have adopted

and my farm is now producing over 30

bags of potatoes which I am able to feed

my family and sell in the market.”

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Kapsagar Women Table BankKapsagar Women group was started 10 years ago, but it did not succeed. The

women say it was started by their mothers. Most of the members are young women

below the age of 35 years. They are 29 members. All of them are engaged in farming

potatoes and cabbages, some of them have started raring chicken. They have not

all gone for trainings instead one of their members has received several farming

trainings and in turn acts as their trainer.

Some members of Kapsagar Women Group

Inset: Rosaline Lodep in black hat at a meeting

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The women after selling their farm produce meet every Thursday and contribute to their table banking. Each member can contribute between ksh 50 to ksh 250 (0.5$ to 2.5$) depending on their ability. They have opened a group account at a local SACCO known as

Msingi Bora and at Kenya Commercial Bank. They are able to keep proper records of their contribution which after a month, they loan to any member who is in need of a loan. Members who take loans buy fertilizers and seeds for their farms. The group has been able to write a proposal to the government for UWEZO fund and they were granted ksh 60,000 and 80,000 which they used to purchase farm inputs to boost their production

“As a group we are able to get information and share with each other. We compare farming practices from different members and improve our produce. We are able to pool our money together and lend to

members in table banking which we give once a month. Our members now have money at hand to support in household development. When our husbands are not at home we are able to buy drugs for the children fall sick. Our children also go to school since we can buy uniforms and books for them. Our farms are better because we buy fertilizers and good seeds with the money which we save. Our future is bright; we want to start small business of a posho mill to help other women in the village who walk long distances to get maize flour. We were down but the group has helped us to come up,” said Rosaline Lodep, treasurer of Kapsagar Women Group.

“As a group we are able to get information

and share with each other. We compare

farming practices from different members

and improve our produce. We are able to pool

our money together and lend to members in

table banking which we give once a month.

Our members now have money at hand to

support in household development.”

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Green at LastAkiriamet Linyogh is a farmers group in Akiriamet Village, Siatwa Sub-Location, Riwo

Location, in West Pokot County. In 2008, the group was registered with 15 members

all of whom were women. Currently they are 21 members 19 are women and three

are men. The group is under POKASE (Pokot Kopulio Akiriamet Setat) Farmers’

Network, a farmers’ network that has been engaging the county’s agriculture

ministry and other parties involved in implementation of county agricultural plan.

Florence Atodo is one of the farmers in the group. She is 32 years, married with eight children. She has an acre farm which is next to a river. She grows vegetables like kales and other traditional vegetables. She also grows fruits like grafted mangoes, oranges, pawpaw and bananas. This was not the case before when her land was dry and bare.

“I joined the group I have learnt how to take farming seriously. In our community we mostly keep cows and farming was not seen as a source of livelihood for the family. After going for exposure visits to other counties where women farmers are doing well, I decided to take up the challenge and ensure my land is covered with green vegetation.

27

Some members of Akiriamet Linyogh Farmer’s Group

At first it was not easy but with more training and effort I have now perfected it. I am able to sell my produce in the market and get money to feed and educate my children. I also have orders to sell vegetables to the schools in the area. I have dug water near the river bank and I use it to irrigate my land. I used to fetch water from the well using a bucket but after receiving training on how to use water pumping machine technology to ease irrigation, I saved my earnings and bought a pump. It is now easy and fast to water the plants,” said Florence.

Through initiatives by Florence and her group members they have demanded for higher budget allocation for agriculture. The county budget for agriculture has risen from 2% in 2013 to current 7% in 2015.The farmers would like to see the budget grow up to 10% and reach out to more farmers in the county. Group members are pushing to be incorporated in county agriculture committee so that the voice of the farmers can be heard when making decisions which affect them.

“After going for exposure visits to other

counties where women farmers are doing well,

I decided to take up the challenge and ensure

my land is covered with green vegetation. At

first it was not easy but with more training

and effort I have now perfected it.”

28

Florence Atodo at her farm

New Frontiers• Linking the women groups to the county

Although there seems to be some linkages, it’s not clear the role of the women in influencing policy and how much they are able to advocate for services like extension agriculture. For instance in West Pokot one of the women groups which rare chicken have had deaths of chicks out of unknown diseases yet they have no way of reaching the extension officers for support and information.

• Sources of funds

There is need to link the women with different sources of finances to fund their projects and expand the existing ones. In some of the areas they have not been able to tap into funds provided for by the government and the county. The women seem to fully depend on grants provided by ActionAid. This slows down development on new ideas and expansion.

• Use of Technology

Although there was some use of technology, it was noted this is an area the women had not fully exploited to benefit from information and linkages coming from technology. The women need more training on the value of technology in production and marketing of produce. This is an opportunity which need further exploitation eg the women could learn basic applications which keep them up to date with global perspective on farming and which bring farming knowledge. New methods of farming which are likely to yield more are being adopted at a very slow rate. For example, farmers using green house and irrigation to produce crops all year round were few.

• Climate change

The farmers did not seem to have knowledge on climate change, its effects on small holder farmers and how to mitigate its effects on crop production. This left the farmers vulnerable to different changes in climate which affect them yet they have no information on its signs and effects. The farmers are not involved in any local, national or international debate on the issue.

• Support in value chain addition

The farmers have not set up value chain addition for most of their farm produce. The famers in Kakamega County are in the process of setting up a value chain addition plant for bananas. Farmers in the other areas need to take the same direction. Like farmers in Baringo can start a chicken slaughter and fish packaging for higher income and farmers in Migori roll out the potatoes value addition plant.

• Diversification

The farmers need to think in diverse ways. Most of the farmers have stuck with single produce like bananas instead of thinking beyond what they were introduced to during training. The farmers should introduce diverse crops especially those which are resistant to climate change and diseases. 29

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