At the beginning of the summer of 2011, the Slovak Catholic Charity (SKCH) got involved in helping the countries of East Africa, which were hit by huge droughts and a wave of famine. In 2012, activities continue - no longer with prompt humanitarian aid, but mainly with thoughtful development cooperation in the Kenyan district of Kericho. Everything possible can be imagined under the intention of the SKCH project in Kenya "Improving the livelihood of poor and vulnerable population groups in Kenya", financially supported by SlovakAid funds. Going deeper into the quest, it is essentially about improving food security, access to safe water, sanitation and health status of communities in Sigowet Constituency, Kericho County. It will be important to increase agricultural production and sustainable land use in the Kaplelartet and Kebeneti areas, but at the same time protect the environment. With specific activities, training and the involvement of local people in the process, this can lead to successful results.
SKCH project coordinator Anna Bartošová describes the life of two local tribes, the Kikuyu and the Kalengin, who make a living from agriculture: "Life in the countryside is slow and on the verge of poverty - the residents have no electricity, they get water from a spring, or they collect rain water, they walk barefoot. They divide their traditional mud houses with a roof made of dry grass into two rooms: a living room and a kitchen. It is dark and smoky inside, it is difficult to breathe. Some have a latrine near the house (made of burlap, attached to four branches around a hole in the ground), but most of them just go to the bush to defecate. Their daily diet consists of a plaster of corn porridge, sometimes sweet potatoes and white tea. And although the Kenyan district of Kericho can be compared to a "green paradise" or "the center of tea plantations" by casual passers-by, people from this area still need to be helped. Greenery is not a sign and harvest is a matter of course for the entire region!
One of the ongoing problems in Kenya is the lack of water, but especially the deepening of climate change due to deforestation. SKCH General Secretary Radovan Gumulák clarifies the situation: "Local people need to get wood as fuel for their households. And since land rights are not sufficiently secured and land ownership is not clarified - it is cut down and mined anywhere. African forests are disappearing faster than in other parts of the world. Due to their low level of education, few Kenyans are aware of the importance of forests (and their dependence on them) for growing crops - for the ability to regulate water flows and catch precipitation. And that's not to mention rampant diseases or renewed inter-tribal intolerance as the country is approaching elections."
Trained Kenyans will train compatriots
Poor harvests and food shortages are the result of last year's extreme drought due to the missed rainy season, plus inefficient planning resulting from insufficient knowledge, as well as the failure to use local knowledge to increase production and especially crop diversity.
The two-year SKCH project represents an improvement in the area of food security for a total of twelve municipalities in Kenya's Kericho district with five thousand recipients of our assistance. In the first phase, three hundred most vulnerable households were selected from six villages, to whom the charity then distributed varieties of seeds that can withstand drought (millet, sorghum, but also cassava, which is an ideal crop in times of global warming). As part of the comprehensive training of instructors, four dozen interested parties have already been trained in the field of sustainable agriculture. "However, this number will increase from tens to hundreds, as each instructor is obliged to further train ten other local farmers. In this way, the locals themselves ensure the sustainability of the project - with their activity and willingness to pass on knowledge in the community. Some information is not heard for the first time, especially in the field of crop cultivation, they just brush up on the methods used by their ancestors - only the colonialists abolished or limited them (for example, monotonous cultivation corn)," adds SKCH project coordinator Anna Bartošová.
The first hundred farmers are already benefiting from the knowledge they acquired during the practical demonstrations of crop management, and another 130 Kenyans were trained in the field of small livestock breeding. The trainings also touch on the field of hygiene and sanitation, project implementation, planning and a very important part - peace building.
Improving the standard of living of Kenyan farmers
Field workers of the Kenyan, Swiss and Slovak charity, which are partner organizations in this project, have set up demonstration fields - training grounds on selected plots of land, where demonstration training in crop management, especially demonstrations of cultivation practices for beneficiaries of such support and community members, take place. "We show them how to achieve great things in a minimal piece of space and with maximum use of running water (as in the case of a circular mandala-garden or a multi-storey flower bed). After all, such a 'multi-storey' flower bed is actually a polyethylene bag of clay with holes on the sides!
If local farmers already see and know on such a training ground - how to prepare and properly use raised or terraced beds, how to properly create and use compost - application on their own fields is easier and the harvest is immediately sufficient, even several times a year," predicts the success of the project, financially supported by SlovakAid resources, its SKCH project coordinator Anna Bartošová.
The family of David Kipsang Chepkwony, involved in this project, also makes a living from agriculture. Thanks to sustainable agriculture training and a donated irrigation kit as part of the charity project, he will be able to grow and supply fresh organically produced vegetables to the local market even during the dry months. During her May monitoring trip in the Kericho district (in the villages of Kiptere, Kaplelartet and Kebeneti), the Slovak charity worker met the first families whose lives were changed and improved thanks to this project. Bishop of Kericho Diocese Mons. Emanuel Okombo is grateful for this type of development cooperation and pays great attention to the implementation of this project - it is about raising the standard of living of his entire community.
Fotoreporáž k projektu Text: Bozena Baluchová, Photo: Anna Bartošová