Growing Food and Growing Hope in Kenya
This close knit group of the Luo people, have a well structured traditional community leadership. They’ve lived in this area of the Nyanza province in the community of Kasule since the 19th century, after they moved from Sudan and settled along the rivers and land around Lake Victoria; the majority remained as small scale farmers.
The Nyanza province has a poverty index that currently stands at 68%. Most of these people earn less than a dollar a day. There are about 2093 households in the community (on average there are 7 people per household). The province also leads the country in HIV/AIDS with a rate of 17%; Kasule’s prevalence stands at 23%. Over the past few years there have been reported cases of people dying due to lack of food because of droughts that hit the area.
The area of Kasule is a fairly level plain which experiences hot and dry weather most of the year. During the rainy season the area tends to flood as the soil is composed of quite a bit of clay. The community has existed for years in the way of subsistence farming by growing crops like maize, beans, and cassavas. However, the community’s crops are increasingly becoming stunted due to the poor nutrient content in the soil, the extreme weather conditions, and, in some parts, by being washed away during flash flooding. The food that is left is primarily consumed by the household leaving little or none to sell in the local market.
How You Can Help:
We want to introduce modern farming techniques and the use of certified seeds that will withstand the extreme weather conditions, the expertise and training from a local agronomist to help them increase the yield of their crops along with proper tools and some fertilizer for the soil.
$75.00 will purchase:
- 5 Kg of specialized maize seed (their staple food), 50 kg of fertilizer, 2 hoes plus 1 axe and training from an Agronomist