As SANGO-Kenya celebrates its fifth anniversary, we are very excited to begin a new program extending the food and nutrition security training and in-field support to the Maasai community in Amboseli, the area around the world-renowned Amboseli National Park!
This is very exciting in so many ways. The Maasai are pastoralists, known for raising livestock and mostly consuming beef and milk. And you see cattle grazing everywhere. However, climate change has had a significant impact on the availability of sufficient food for the cattle to graze on.
Additionally, without consuming vegetables, their nutrition and health suffered. When I was there earlier this year with some of our Kenyan team, we often heard, “There is much malnutrition here. You can see it, especially among the children.”
It was the desire to address their food insecurity that brought Grand Circle Foundation to SANGO-Kenya. They have been supporting significant projects in Amboseli in education and development for more than a decade, and we — and the people of Amboseli — are very grateful that they are now turning their attention to food and nutrition.
We learned so much when we visited earlier this year. Evance, our Head of Agriculture, and Franck Junior, one of our Field Officers, spoke to many there about the soil, climate, and experience growing vegetables. Although a few people grow some vegetables, they do not grow African traditional greens. We promote these vegetables because they can grow in harsh climates and are so full of nutrients.
Mostly they buy whatever vegetables they consume. And they pay a lot for them — they currently can pay 300 Kenyan shillings per day just for the tomatoes and onions they can buy locally. If they want to buy green vegetables, they must travel more than 20 kilometers to the market — another 1000 shillings — plus the cost of the vegetables. In a week, they might spend well over 3100 Kenyan shillings — more than $20 US. A very high cost.
Considering how much they are paying for vegetables, it was no wonder that when Evance asked the community members if they were ready to join SANGO-Kenya, all of their hands shot up!
Today, the program is fully underway. We have a new member of our team, Wilfred, who is the Project Coordinator in Amboseli. He has done an amazing job organizing the program: recruiting farmers, scheduling the trainings, ensuring proper in-field support — and so many other things. He, along with seven other community members committed to helping us provide the training, learned all about SANGO-Kenya when they came to Kisumu County for a week in August.
I am happy to say that the program is well underway! Sandra, from Grand Circle Foundation, and I visited many of the women in the program recently. Harder to say who was more excited — the farmers showing us how proud they are of the compost — like the one above that they learned to make with SANGO-Kenya — or Sandra and me when we saw them
They are also so excited about what is to come. Next week they will begin planting — most for the first time ever! And soon, they will be able to feed their families nutritious green vegetables they grew themselves.
With much gratitude,
SANGO-Kenya farmers, Winnie, Evance, Peter, Franck, Wilfred, Connie, and Kit
Many thanks to all of our generous donors None of this would be possible without you and your generous support.
Giving Tuesday is December 2. Please consider making a generous donation to SANGO-Kenya to help ensure we can continue to strengthen the food and nutrition security of the women, children, and communities of SANGO-Kenya!
Your support is more important now than ever.
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Photos: Etan Rozin
www.rozinphotos.com
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