A Thousand Gardens in Africa.

Next month, the first coordinator’s workshop on the continent will be held in Nakuru, Kenya. In the lead up to the event, we asked coordinators Jane Karanja and John Kariuki for an update on progress in their home country.

Can you paint us a picture of agriculture in Kenya?

JANE: Around three quarters of our population are involved in food production – mostly small-scale farmers – but erratic weather patterns, vast regions of arid desert and poor government policies make it a very unstable livelihood. Periods of drought can be crippling, not only for the food supply, but for jobs as well. We need policies for sustainable food cultivation to help the rural population that relies on subsistence farming for their own food as well as income.

JOHN: Our small-scale farmers produce the highest proportion of food in the country, yet unfortunately they live lives of poverty, isolation, hunger and malnutrition.

Tell us about the Thousand Garden in Africa project in Kenya?

JOHN: Our goal is to create 200 gardens in Kenya during 2011-2012 across Kenya, from Mombasa on the eastern coast to Homa Bay in the west. The reason for such an optimistically high number is that the Slow Food network here is already very active. We already have 13 convivia and UNISG graduates who will help us to coordinate the project, 11 school gardens, and hundreds of people involved (teachers, students, families etc).

This project, more than just creating gardens, is about joining a network across Africa to exchange our experiences.

What kind of food will be produced in the gardens?

JANE: We have a strong focus on promoting growing native Kenyan crops in the gardens. The gardens will teach communities to cultivate a wide range of grains, legumes and vegetables such as amaranth and millet, which we traditionally use to make flour for porridge and other nutritious dishes; stinging nettle, which is common in traditional recipes such as mukimo -prepared with mashed potatoes, corn, beans; and pigeon peas, kale, black night shade, cassava and sweet potato to name just a few others.

Have you got any feedback from people involved in the school garden project started in 2005?

JOHN: Parents were reluctant to get their children involved in the food gardens at first, as in Kenya agriculture has always been used as punishment for students who don’t do well at school. Once the parents got involved, they started to see the benefit and change their attitudes.

JANE: After we set up gardens in the Molo district, we found out that kids went home and asked their parents if they could create a garden at home! This was immediate feedback that the project, and the idea of creating gardens that can be replicated, works.

Why do you feel there is a need for this type of project in Kenya?

JANE: Agriculture is so important in Kenya but education is lacking. As in other African countries, we are seeing a loss of traditional products and an increase in imported and junk foods and Western-style chronic diseases. However access to information to help reverse this trend is inadequate and Kenyan schools don’t include agriculture as a subject anymore. This project is important as students learn by doing, giving them the opportunity to gain hands-on skills that they can utilize at home for a healthier approach to the future.

JOHN: I think what one teacher told me sums it up well. He said, we are not doing it so that all the children become farmers; we are doing it because whatever they do, they will have to choose what to eat every day for the rest of their lives. This starts them on the right path to understanding where food comes from and making thoughtful decisions. You can become anything, but you will always have to eat.

What do you hope will be achieved from the project?

JOHN: More than anything, I hope that the young people involved will take a more positive attitude to food production and understand that a respectful career and income doesn’t necessarily mean becoming an engineer, doctor, or pilot, but can also be earned by practicing sustainable agriculture.
We also want to increase the respect given to small-scale farmers and make them understand that they have enough resources at their disposal to produce healthy food for their families. They can use their own farmyard manure, plant extracts for pest control and traditional ways of selecting and preserving their own seeds.

Tell us about the workshop next month. What are you hoping to achieve?

JANE: The workshop will bring together people from English-speaking African countries involved in the project to discuss how to put the methods in the garden handbook – that was developed in March by African agronomists – into practice. On the last day the participants will visit one of the pilot school gardens and take a tour in the Mau forest where they will plant trees and share lunch with the Indigenous Ogiek community.

JOHN: Bringing participants of the Thousand Gardens project together will help us realize the scale and importance of this project, and that despite our different cultural and socio-economic backgrounds we are one united group committed to changing the African food system. By the end of the workshop we will have discussed the methods in the handbook thoroughly and expect to come up with best-practice models for school, community and family gardens so everyone is ready to move forward.

Jane Karanja and John Kariuki are graduates from the University of Gastronomic Sciences and coordinators of the Thousand Gardens in Africa project in Kenya. John is vice-president of Slow Food International.

For more information on the Thousand Gardens project, visit

http://www.slowfoodfoundation.org

To make a donation to the project, visit
http://www.slowfood.com/donate

Molo Stakeholders Agricultural Show!

Network for Ecofarming in Africa and Slow Food Central Rift Convivium were among Molo stakeholders’ members who participated during Molo stakeholders Agricultural show at Molo stadium.
Food communities, schools and different members of the society were all at the stadium to learn and taste different local food products that had been brought by different food communities. In attendance were Slow Food Presidia producers, who exhibited presidia products which the participants enjoyed tasting, eating and learning about them.
It is in events like this, that farmers get to increase their knowledge and skills on issues about Agriculture and food consumption. There is inter generational knowledge transfer from farmers to school going youth on issues related to food and culture, stakeholders strengthen their relationship with farmers and others in the community as they get time to interact on one to one basis.

Agroprocessing and Value Addition!

In order to impart practical skills and capacities in methods of value addition and agro processing Participatory ecological land use management (PELUM) association organized a 3 day training workshop for member organizations and farmers.
Necofa was represented by a programme coordinator, one female farmer from Lare pumpkin presidia and an intern with the organization Heva Brunelle from Canada.
With many farmers at community level, agricultural production has substantially improved. Even where production is low, there is a need to extend the storage of certain foods and thus lengthen the shelf life when the foods are in season in order to prevent wastage due to excess production. The legendary case of vegetables is a good example where they continue selling at throw-away farm gate prices during the wet season and are unavailable during their drier months.
The organizers found it necessary for community group trainers to acquire the skills and knowledge of diverse methods of food preservation, value addition and agro processing that is practical and possible at household level.
The participants were engaged in practical cooking lessons of typical food products like sweet potatoes chapati and vegetables, pumpkin chapati and mandazi, fried arrow roots, yoghurt, making of fruit juices and soya bean meat and milk .
At the end of the workshop, the participants had realized how they can engage their communities to improve their livelihoods, by moving a step further in getting ready for agribusiness and value chain engagements.

Climate change Interventions!

Climate change phenomena is a complex and challenging global issue.  These changes has greatly impacted on the agricultural production and other related activities especially to  small scale farmers who wholly depend on rain fed  agriculture.

Network for Ecofarming in Africa (NECOFA) works with community groups, promoting environmental friendly concerns for poverty eradication, food and nutrition security.  During its activities with the groups, the organization learnt the impact posed on communities livelihoods hence necessitated the need for capacity building on climate issue.   Some of the groups involved in the programme included Tazama Mbele Self Help Group, Karunga women group, Utugi Self help group and Nganoine self help group.

A challenge leads to invention, after going through different lessons on importance of respecting our environment, the groups has taken different initiatives to enhance mitigation and adapt   to climate change i.e. Nganoine and Utugi self help groups are growing drought resistant crops e.g. pumpkin, sorghum and indigenous vegetables.  Besides growing the crops, they have also taken initiative of adding value e.g. drying pumpkins and grinding to flour to prolong the shelf life.  The flour is used to blend other types of flour and make stew  to improve the nutrition value.

Other groups like Karunga women group, Tazama Mbele, Vision self help group and others with support from Necofa established indigenous tree nurseries in focus to rehabilitate forest and also plant on individual farms.  Besides rehabilitation of the forest, the groups will sell to the community at affordable price hence ensuring sustainability of the project.  To date the groups has nurseries with a total of more than 20,000 seedlings each  which are ready for planting.

Froot Loops vs Real Fruit? | Food For Thought | Slow Food International – Good, Clean and Fair food.

Froot Loops vs Real Fruit? | Food For Thought | Slow Food International – Good, Clean and Fair food..

Come on Italy! … Slowly | Food For Thought | Slow Food International – Good, Clean and Fair food.

Come on Italy! … Slowly | Food For Thought | Slow Food International – Good, Clean and Fair food..

VISIT BY YOUNG GASTRONOMES!

15 young students  from University of Gastronomic Sciences (Unisg) learnt about Kenyan Food Culture and Heritage during their Study Trip (6^th-16^th February).

Unisg which is supported by International Slow Food association was created in 2004 to create an insight on gastronomy and professionals who can join the act of eating with that of production, without crossing any intermediate stages.
Supported by the regional governments of Piedmont and Emilia- Romagna, the University of Gastronomic Sciences is based in Pollenzo. It is a private institution recognized by the Italian state.
The university has students from Japan, Africa, Europe, Latin America and countries like Venezuela and Colombia.
At this university students do not learn to cook, but they engage in visiting producers involved in
production processes, culture and have extensive knowledge of the territories. It is important that students know in particular; cuisine, history, culture and biography of a country.
The aim is to create ambassadors of good food; this is achieved by trying to relate and to strengthen relations with chefs, growers and consumers.

On this trip students had a ten-day visit, where they learnt about the country through various visits and meetings with local food communities, schools as well as  participating in a series of lessons, including on such subjects as;  Kenya’s fishing industry, tea production and commercialization, sugar refining, the coffee industry, school gardens and Small- scale farming organized by Network for Ecofarming in Africa( Necofa), Sustainable Mobilization of Agricultural Resources Technologies (Smart Initiative) and Youth Action for Rural Development (Yard).
In addition, the trip included visits to the Slow Food presidia Projects; Nzoia River Reed Salt, Mushunu chicken and Pokot Ash Yoghurt, where they had an opportunity to interact with different food communities, dance to traditional rhythms and share meals.

Presidia projects are sustainable food production initiatives which build the capacity of a group of producers in order to improve production techniques, develop production protocols and find local and international markets. Each Presidium supports a quality product at risk of extinction; uses traditional processing and/or agricultural methods; and safeguards native breeds and local plant varieties. The Presidia projects were created in 2009 following a research study on traditional foods in Molo and Western areas carried out by Kenyan Graduate students from the University of Gastronomic Sciences and spearheaded by Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity, Italy.

 

Students had an opportunity to visit the historic city of Kapenguria, travel through and watch the destruction of the Mau escarpment, visit a coffee-hulling plant, mix wildlife and study by visiting the Maasai Mara Park, visit to a tea plantation and they also met with Karunga women group who utilize wool from sheep to make different products like dolls, carpets among others.

A great visit it was ” I did’n’t know I could learn so much about a people’s culture and their lifestyle in 10 days, I loved the interaction with food communities,eating together and having a dance with the pokot women” Eloise Vincent one of the students from Canada.

Future of honey leaf Stevia!

The leaves of this splendid plant are 30 times sweeter than sugar; with zero calories where as pure extract is 300 times sweeter than sugar. This sweet-honey-leaf  herb is likely to become the major source of high potency sweetener for the growing natural food market, in the years to come.

Stevia finds its use as a natural sweetener, replacing the chemical sweeteners and even table sugar; the sweetness in leaf is due to the presence of an intensive-sweetening agent called stevioside and the leaf by itself is about 20 to 30 times sweeter than sugar. The leaf has stevioside of 10-12% on dry weight basis.

Stevia is a new  promising renewable raw material for the food market. The market potential for this natural sweetener is still  untapped.

For more information on seedlings availability and stevia manual contact Jane :0715639223

SEEKING TO BALANCE LIFE AND WORK.

As we seek to balance life and work, we often think of our next vacation as one of the ways of restoring balance in our lives.

Terra Madre Safaris through Necofa hosted 6 American visitors; who included their partners  (FKSW) and their friends from the 7th -29th January,2011 .  The friends of FKSW were interested in learning about the different activities of the 2 organizations in Kenya, learning about the kenyan people and their culture. This was achieved through visits to successful community projects, school projects, and local food communities where they shared meals with the local people, as they exchanged information and shared ideas of the two different worlds they live in. These exchanges help the local people in appreciating themselves, priding in their culture and heritage, and holding their heads high with dignity.

Asked of their experience in Kenya, Karen had this to say;

“Sometimes we take a big trip, far away from where we live and what we do. These journeys abroad can provide rich learning, not only about the people we meet and the places we visit, but also about ourselves. Such trips are as much an adventure (looking outward), as an inventure (looking inward). Travel provides us with an opportunity to be students of our experiences, reinvent ourselves, and rewrite our personal narratives. ”

 

NECOFA CELEBRATES CHRISTMAS WITH THE LESS FORTUNATE.

Christmas may be the “season to be jolly” but not everyone gets to enjoy the festive spirit. While most of us come under the spells of carols and eagerly wait to open our presents, for a large number in the village, it’s just another day. Christmas is a period when people strengthen their relationships with their families. This is also the time the people help the less fortunate members of their society. Jesus in his teachings showed that we should always be caring for the less fortunate and we should all be our brothers’ keepers..So, to make this year’s Christmas a special one for the “not so fortunate”, Necofa decided to share Christmas with 46 households of vulnerable orphans and their guardians some infected and affected by HIV/AIDS to put a smile on their faces and to make them feel special and loved.

The members of the households each received a 2kg packet of chapati flour, salt, sugar, cooking oil, rice and tea leaves to ensure that at least on that particular day they will enjoy like everybody else, 

And the joy of being part of the day was evident as the children and elderly adults danced away merrily to christmas songs.

Vulnerable Orphaned children and their guardians sing as they await to receive their gifts.