Chapter #3. Meeting the farmers

The training session was about to begin. We arrived at the farm that was hosting us and the farmers started gathering.

Each, when arriving, had an air of excitement mixed in with, let’s pretend that old white guy with a camera is not here and go about our business.

Jane, the farmer who was hosting us, was very welcoming and showed me around the homestead. There were children, poultry, and a few dogs wandering about.

Her husband came out and introduced himself. I was to learn later that we rarely encounter the men. It is the women farmers who run this show.
I asked him how many children there were here. He said eleven. Five were his. And six were adopted.
I asked how that came about and he said that ‘a month ago we buried the mother after a long disease. Then two weeks ago the father was eaten by a crocodile.’
Welcome to Kenya.
So they ended up adopting three sets of twins.

Death is very present here.
The women started showing up. Some carried plastic chairs and organized them classroom-style under a big tree in the yard.

The program trains the farmers in various techniques with the goal of improving their food security.

Choosing the right crops to grow is an important decision and one that many farmers feel the consequences of when making the wrong one.
Traditionally, a farmer’s automatic choice for a crop is maize. It is the main food staple here and what is used primarily for preparing Ugali. Ugali is eaten nearly every meal. It is a paste prepared from ground maize.

The program introduces the farmers to other crops. Hardier crops can be continuously harvested and are nutritious. These require different techniques to grow and that is part of the training.

What the farmers tend to do, and have done before joining the program, is…. if they have an available plot of land nearby, they will plant maize over all of it. If the rains don’t come on time, or if flooding occurs the whole crop is gone and they are left with nothing. So another lesson that is emphasized is… diversification.
Dom. The agricultural instructor is very animated. I can only get the gist of things as the instruction is in Luo.

The farmers are very attentive. All taking notes, asking questions, and making little diagrams. They are completely engaged and with the program.

The farmers are all made of materials far superior to what constitutes me. Throughout the day I was constantly struggling with the physical aspects of being alive. Drinking, being hungry, and ducking into the bushes for other needs. The farmers, on the other hand, seemed oblivious to all of that. First-world weakling, that’s what I am…

Not wanting to eat around the farmers, on the way home, we frantically attack the peanut butter sandwiches we prepared in the apartment, devouring them as we drive back.

There is a certain expectation that a handout will be given at the end of the training sessions. Much like the tote bag we pick up at trade shows… This can be something minimal, a pencil, or, often, a small box of milk.
All the farmers are women, and they are completely with the program. Everyone but Joseph. He is there for the handout at the end. He doesn’t even pretend to be interested in anything else. But he is very patient.

Today’s session is about crop selection and planting methodology. Some of the concepts are very simple: spacing, timing, and depth. I hadn’t realized before coming how detached the farmers are from information that we have readily available. What is just a quick search for an article or a YouTube tutorial for us… is unavailable to them. When you have no electricity, internet, or smart device…. you get forced ignorance…

What they don’t have in information they make up with determination.
The more time I spent around the farmers the more I appreciated their amazing resilience and determination for changing their circumstances.

On the way back we stop to get the handouts for tomorrow’s training. The decision was to get little cartons of milk. (as we decided no sugary sodas), So we stopped at a regional market and looked for a grocery. This was an eye-opener for me. The grocery is one room. It is divided into two by bars running through the center. You ask the grocer for items you want through the bars. He goes behind and gets it for you. You then hand over payment through the bars, and he hands you the merchandise. Totally illustrates the state of personal security here.

As usual, I was hypnotized watching all the action and stalls at the side of the road on the way back.

Next, a training session is held out in the field, a practical demonstration of planting techniques.