Organic Farming for Food Security

Working with the poorest imaginable, the emphasis of this program is on constructing infrastructure and community knowledge of organic agriculture and business cooperatives as a way of poverty alleviation based on economic growth. Sasa Harambeenhas established with the community a collective called SOAP (Sigomre Organic Agriculture Program)

Farmer Teachers are trained by SOAP who then transfer their knowledge to other local farmers. The aim of the agriculture program is to teach basic organic farming practices through peer Farmer Teachers. The original emphasis was on maize generation through a method known as Push/Pull grain production. The primary outcome was sustainable food security. Prior to the beginning of the Sasa Harambee program in 2008, farmers practiced farming through traditional methods; the land was sterile, dead, and dying, and the farmers rarely harvested even one 90kg bag of maize. Famine and malnutrition are common with this kind of farming.

With support from an organization known as ICIPE (Kenyan research institution), we learned how to control the weed Striga and the pest fall armyworm through a planting method and a wonderful plant called desmodium. (For more information watch the documentary at the beginning of the website) While the Push/Pull method is labor intensive, if done well the crop yield increases significantly.

With the extended drought in 2023, it became apparent that SOAP(Sigomre, Organic Agriculture Programme) needed to address climate change. In March 2023 the farmer teachers began to teach a method called Farming God’s Way introduced by Sasa Harambee. The method is no-till and relies heavily on mulching to trap moisture and nutrients in the land. This method extends the growing season. This method is our first attempt to directly address climate change. The primary push of the teaching is to grow vegetables for sale. Growing traditional greens and collard greens not only provides ready income but also enriches the farmers’ table. There is a growing market for other vegetables such as green peppers, zucchini, and carrots. Not only does SOAP teach the Farming God’s Way techniques, but it also coordinates the market between the farmer and possible buyers.

In 2021, SOAP bought land close to the Sigomre market. On the half-acre plot SOAP established an aggregation center and multiple demonstration plots. Growing in these plots are Kale, Carrots, eggplant, onions, two kinds of cabbage, and indigenous greens. A demonstration plot of Push and Pull has been established. A long-term goal is a teaching hall and Offices for SOAP.

After a year, farmers in the program can reach food security and have maize in storage for more than a year. The sale of organic hay creates much-needed money for school/medical fees and farm projects. The SOAP program is one of a kind in the entire region. The farmers of the organic farming program have hope that they will no longer be poor.

Economic Development Through Farming

Beginning in 2016 Sasa Harambee started a collective called SOAP (Sigomre, Organic Agriculture Program) to sell organic hay. ICIPE and other donors especially GIZ (German Development) introduced us to drought-tolerant strains of hay). SOAP and Sasa Harambee organized the farmers across a large area to grow hay and market it through SOAP. They established aggregation centers where buyers could easily pick up bales of hay. In 2016, there were 15 farmers selling hay to individual dairy farmers. There was no organized way of selling bales. By 2023 the number of commercial hay farmers had risen to over 400 active producers. In 2022 over 14,000 bales were sold and over 2 million Ksh entered the market in farmers’ pockets. SOAP had buyers from a 5-county area coming for their quality hay.

To address the problem of not meeting the demand for organic hay, SOAP purchased half an acre using donations from the US and GIZ. They built an aggregation center to hold 1000 bales of hay. SOAP also has leased four 1-acre plots. All this land is planted in hay. The proceeds will go to supporting the SOAP Farmer Teachers activities.

In February 2022, SOAP received from USAID through a cost share a three-wheeled cart and four mechanical harvesters. The cart will help to move hay from farmers’ homes to the aggregation centers. Trained by ICIPE and Phipps Africa, SOAP raises a variety of brachialis and desmodium grass (hay).  The resulting hay is high in protein and is much sought after by dairy farmers. SOAP covers Sigomre Ward, East Ugenya Ward & Musanda Ward having over 400 producing farmers with a cumulative acreage of 75 acres. SOAP also markets the hay for the farmers.  The demand is greater than the production.

The money in farmers’ pockets from the SOAP collective flows into the local market. Those selling products in the local market then receive more money from customers. This is how you grow an economy.

For more information see the 2022 year-end report of SOAP under the tab Go deeper.

Sasa Harambee is seeking funders to help support and expand SOAP. Sasa Harambee is seeking funders to help grow these emerging crops.  Please consider helping to build infrastructure for training and storage.  Please click here: JOIN US.

SOAP ORIGINS AND ACHIEVEMENTS VIDEO

School Health Club Project

Ugunja Development Initiative (UDI) is a youth-led community based organization currently implementing a school health club pilot project in twenty-two schools of Ugunja sub county with an aim of empowering adolescents and youths towards making informed decisions and building their leadership capacities through funding and partnership with Rotary International and Sasa Harambee. 

The School Health Clubs Project shares on a weekly basis through an interactive peer to peer model information around common teen concerns such as menstrual hygiene, sexual reproduction, Sexually Transmitted Infections, Gender based violence, drugs and other topics.  Nine Hundred and twenty seven youth, both boys and girls are involved in grades 7 -12. 

A strong component of the program is parent sessions. Every other month many parents both male and female attend classes in learning about teen development, how to talk with your teen about tricky subjects like sex and drugs, how to report a child that has been abused. 

Many gains can be seen especially in the area of girls empowerment to lead and to participate in cross gendered conversations.  School attendance has improved and numerous teachers indicate improved class participation in other areas.  For  more information see the go deeper quarterly report by UDI.  

Watch: Luke’s story on life skills impact in his college.

Supporting People With Disabilities

Together We Succeed is a holistic, community-generated, and led initiative of services supporting people who live with disabilities. The team is made up of Sigomere Ward Community Health officers, the Matibabu Rehabilitation Team, Equator Special Needs Vocational School, and the county Ministry of Health. The initial overall goal of this team was to identify children early so they can receive interventions and treatment for their conditions.

In December 2020 and January 2021, Sasa Harambee’s Together We Succeed project leaders, the County Health Department, and Matibabu Foundation staff assessed 1000 people living with disabilities in their own communities.  500 of these individuals of all ages qualified to be registered in the National Council database of People Living with Disabilities. As a result, Sasa Harambee established a database of all people living with disabilities in the Ugunja sub-county (census 2020 their population was 993,183 ) 

In addition, the Ministry of Health's Community Health officers, along with the Matibabu Rehabilitation Team, trained Community Health Workers to identify infants with disabilities, provide nutrition education, and provide household-level palliative care for individuals living with cerebral palsy. 

Together We Succeed also did a series of workshops with clerics and pastors in the community to raise awareness and address the stigma against people with disabilities that are often found in churches and mosques.

As part of this collaboration, Sasa Harambee’s Together We Succeed project is responsible for training 16 small local groups of caregivers of PWDs and People Living With Disabilities in good business practices. These small local groups act as support for each other and have formed and registered as CBOs (community-based organizations). They practice table banking (a group-based system of saving to create individual income and interest without the costs of institutional banking). Through a grant from Matibabu and Sasa Harambee, the groups can apply for small grants for startup businesses. They are also taught how to access resources from the local county government. Ultimately, the goal is for people with disabilities to become self-sufficient. Together We Succeed is a holistic, community-generated, and led initiative of services supporting people who live with disabilities. The team is made up of Sigomere Ward Community Health officers, the Matibabu Rehabilitation Team, Equator Special Needs Vocational School, and the county Ministry of Health. The initial overall goal of this team was to identify children early so they can receive interventions and treatment for their conditions.

Sasa Harambee is always seeking funding and collaborations for this most marginalized population. Please contact cccarper1337@gmail.com with resources or DONATE NOW to help a person with disabilities start a small business.

Water and Sanitation

Sasa Harambee, working with Rotary International has constructed 50 spring protections throughout the entire Sigomere Ward. Spring is made potable by constructing a cement basin and retaining wall with a leach field behind it. (see photos for examples). Receiving a grant from Rotary International the first eleven (11) spring protections were done from July 2016 through April 2017. Twenty-nine more (29) spring protections were installed by the spring of 2022.

The Ministry of Health records shows that within one year the mortality rate, from waterborne diseases, in all age groups went to zero. In addition, users of the springs report that they no longer experience daily bouts of diarrhea.

In 2022, school health clubs of 22 schools upgraded their WASH (Water and Sanitary Hygiene) facilities through small grants applied for by students, parents, and school staff. The grants were funded through a larger grant made by Rotary International. See below for more information. These upgrades will be handwashing stations at latrines for both females and males and doors on all stalls. Ongoing basic cleanliness of sanitation facilities is taught in the schools’ health clubs.

All Sasa Harambee water and sanitation projects meet WHO (World Health Organization) standards. There is much need for water and sanitation education and implementation in rural Kenya. We enthusiastically welcome sponsorship by Rotary clubs or Donate Now to help build more spring protections or to make school latrines girls-friendly.

The location of 46 protected springs