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Kenya: Group Debunks Myth of Urban Attraction By Sticking to Land
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The Nation (Nairobi)
20 December 2007
Posted to the web 20 December 2007
Walter Menya
Nairobi
Simon Ouma is one of the few Kenyans who detest rural-urban migration by those in search of white-collar jobs.
The 28-year-old Siaya farmer can comfortably take care of his family, thanks to a project he and others started two years ago.
Today, East Ugenya Community Development Group (Eastcom Group), that Ouma and 29 others started amid jeers from the Bar Ober community, has become the beacon of hope for many farmers in the locality.
It started with 45 kilos of groundnuts for sale, but now receives up to 10 tonnes of the produce annually. And Eastcom has expanded its base to include other crops such as finger millet, simsim and amaranth.
The group introduced a revolutionary approach to farming in an area where many farmers depended on maize and cassava production.
Their priority crops have for long been given very little thought by the farmers, and sometimes, neglected altogether.
"Some people kept asking how we would be able to take care of our families on groundnuts since maize and cassava are the staple foods in the locality," said Ouma.
Alleviating poverty
He continued: "Having been born and raised here, we have very good knowledge of the area and its potential, thus we decided to come together and explore the opportunities available in alleviating poverty and improving food insecurity."
The idea of forming the group came after the members attended a workshop organised by the Inter-Diocesan Christian Community Services (IDCCS) in Siaya Town.
According to the group secretary, Mr Charles Oloo, the training widened their view of the opportunities available and at the same time helped them identify problems affecting their location.
"The major issue in our location has been food insecurity due to poor farming techniques that we have employed for years," he said.
"After the training, about 30 of us came together to start Eastcom. Since we had already been equipped with the knowledge, we found it easy to identify areas of immediate concern," he said.
With a membership of 30, they settled on groundnut farming that was previously done on less than a quarter acre plots.
They used part of their savings to buy 45 kilogrammes of unshelled seeds from the International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).
They planted the seeds in one farm and tended to it jointly. Come harvest time and they were the toast of the village as they surpassed their target. Finally, every member was able to get seeds for individual farms, but still the harvest would be sold as group property.
"At the end of the second season, we had over two tonnes of groundnuts and instead of the seed availability becoming a problem, the market began to shrink," said Mr Oloo.
In the face of this challenge, it was not surprising that IDCCS, which has been keen to introduce new farming techniques, was again conducting another farmers' training workshop.
And for the second time, they attended the training on value addition to their produce, he said.
Adding value
After much thought and brainstorming, the group was more than willing to add to their groundnuts more value before taking them to the market. And so they settled on the idea of peanut butter production.
Today, Eastcom is the only manufacturer of peanut butter in the district. They acquired a machine for making peanut butter at a cost of Sh225,000, part of which is a loan from IDCCS.
Mr Oloo proudly states: "Even some big supermarkets in Kisumu have enquired about the possibility of us supplying them with our products."
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The machine has a capacity for processing 50kgs per day, translating to 100 cans of peanut butter daily.
The group has entered into contracts with non-members to supply them with raw materials.
"We realised that we could not meet the required quantity of raw materials on our own. We have contracted farmers across the location to supplement our production and in so doing, meet the demand for the products," said Mr Oloo.
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this is what africa needs. A sincere institution to strengthen a strong indegeneous potential through sinecere interst and value additon through modern skills. kapukha
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