We from NECOFA have submitted our innovation on School Garden Initiative,we invite you all to share your comments and ideas, so as to enrich the innovation. Thank you.
I thoroughly enjoyed your entry and it's cross-sector (ag and education) approach to rural development. A colleague informed us about other interesting projects you are working on. Please let the community know about these other fascinating initiatives.
Besides the school garden initiative Necofa is invoved in other activities/programmes that include:-
(i) Community-Led peace process
Following the politically instigated post election violence in Kenya in 2008 and considering that Molo was one of the hotspots of the violence and that many of the community members initially working with Necofa were directly or indirectly involved; Necofa joined hands with other local civil society organizations to form Multistakeholders Coordination Consortium (MISCC) miscc.wordress.com in providing humantarian aid support and currently fostering community led peace process.
(ii) Food and livelihood security programme
The programmes overall objective is To work towards revitalization of farming and food security at household level among smallholder farmers in Molo district.
(iii) Reclaming "eroded glory" of indigenous food culture
In partnership with Slow Food movement Necofa is sensitizing the community and policy makers on merits of indigenous food culture in food and nutrition security. Indigenous foods are more adopted to our fragile environment and by practicing diversity there is more resilience.
(iv) Social-economic empowerment of women
Considering that Women are the principle producers of food in subsistence agriculture. They enjoy less social and economic power; women and girls are at greater risk of HIV infection than men and boys and have a more difficult time protecting themselves. Their lower status and limited livelihood opportunities often force women and girls to turn to transactional sex for food or income to survive. The project addresses the situation of women through promotion of equality between men and women, relieving of the workload of women through the provision of clean water, introduction of appropriate, relevant and affordable technology, promoting use of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) at smaller scale to reduce cost.
(v) Promotion of underutilized plant species
This project works with communities in domestication of plant species previously found in the forest; value addition and marketing. Among these products are Stinging Nettle (Urtica masaica), Prunus Africana, Mushrooms, other teas and herbs
Congratulations! On behalf of the Changemakers team, we are honored to declare you a winner of the Early Entry Prize for the “Cultivating Innovation: Solutions for Rural Communities” collaborative competition! As a reward, you will receive a cell phone and a digital camera!
We hope that by submitting your innovation early, you have been able to generate feedback, dialogue, and insight about your initiative. Showcasing your blueprint and the challenges involved in creating social impact advises potential investors about how best to improve funding/investing patterns for the sector and to maximize the strategic impact and effectiveness of their future investments.
Please remember that your selection as an Early Entry Prize winner does not preclude you from winning the competition in any way, or guarantee finalist status—all entries will be equally evaluated per the Changemakers criteria at the completion of the entry period.
Congratulations, again!
Best wishes,
The Changemakers Team
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The Changemakers Team
Ashoka's Changemakers
It is with sweet surprise and great joy that I received your email upon returning to the office from the field. I realize that you have quite many entrants each with unique and interesting innovation and picking a winner must have been quite a task.
We have learned a lot from participating in this competition especially from other entries, comments and discussions. It has been very inspiring. We will continue in the discussions not only to win in the next round but more to learn and share experiencies with others.
I take this opportunity to thank the Change makers Team for all your support and encouragement.
Congratuations again! Please know that I have reached out to Gwen and asked her a few questions about setting up a nonprofit, as I'd like to develop one that would be used primarily as a fund-raising mechanism for sustainable agriculture projects in East Africa and India. My current job is keeping me extremely busy right now but I hope we can work together more closely in the near future. Like everyone else who has commented here, I remain inspired by your work, projects, passion, vision and leadership. Please send everyone at NECOFA my greetings.
We understand that you are very busy and we are grateful for your concern and interest in our work. We do also remember and recognize your contribution and participation in our school garden initiave when you lived with us here during your university stage in 2007. Since then we have had other students participate in our project from Europe and your country US. We are receiving one young man from your country next month who will be with us for 2 months. In September ,we shall have another masters student for 2 months from the University of Gastronomic sciences. Jane, from the same university is back in Kenya after her graduation and she is now directly involved in the initiative. Your participation with us and that of others adds value to our initiative. it is my hope that you will succeed in your initiative and look forward to working with you much more. Our initiative is growing but we would wish to extend much further in our country but resources are limiting.
Congratulation Samuel and NECOFA for for this innovative idea. I am really impressed and wish to commend you for such great innovation. However, in our colaboration work with NECOFA we have been engaging in environemental work and tree planting including agroforestry practices that you also involve the school going youth. You have not given this perspective in your case and I think its critical in passing necessary knwledge and skills to the students that is also replicated at home and community.
Thank you for your comment. In deed MACOFA has played important role in sensitizing the growing youth on the importance of the environment and tree planting. We do also appreciate your work in mobilizing communities towards restoring the Mau water shed which has been greatly destroyed through irresponsible human activities. The Mau is source to rivers that feed major lakes including Victoria, Nakuru and Baringo. Your participation in our initiative has greatly added value and increased efficiency and efficacy of the initiative. Schools participating in the initiative have tree nurseries in which the youth gain skills in raising trees seedlings (for fodder, fuel, building materials etc) and also planting them in the school compounds. The schools are a source of tree seedlings for the community and youth participate with community members in tree planting events organized by MACOFA and other collaborators. MACOFA also participate with us in educating the students and communities on other tree and forestry related enterprises like bee keeping and harvesting of non-timber forestry resources including Stinging nettle, Prunus Africana, traditional sustainable l vegetables, herbs and medicinal plants. We are greatful to MACOFA and are happy that you are associated with our initiative.
Dear colleagues at NECOFA
Thank you for working with the youth on this.
We are doing similar work. Lets network, share experiences and strengthen each other.
Keep up the good work
congratulations samwel and the NECOFA team! This reminds me of the close collaboration we had with NECOFA in the revitalizing of 4-kclubs in Molo District when i worked there as the District Agricultural officer. The clubs motto is“kuungana,kufanya kusaidia kujenga kenya“Working together to develop our country through the 4-k club movement in terms of demystifying Agriculture,training tomorrow farmers today,reducing on cost of feeding for boarding schools as well as inculcating healthy eating habits from an early age. This you ably did through establishment of school gardens in the primary schools in the District,which became a ready source of food to the schools as well as learning and demonstration centres not only for the pupils but their parents and other community members who visited the schools during open days.
I look forward to having you establish school gardens in Nyandarua district where I am currently. Let us continue the collaboration in rural youth development.
Wishing you all the best in the school gardens initiative.
Necofa works and collaborates with government ministries and departments. We always endeavor to operate within government policies and priorities. We do recognize that he role of civil society is NOT to contradict government policy but to compliment positive and practical policies. The initiative is in line with the government’s “strategy for Revitalizing Agriculture, 2004-2014 (SRA) in which the Ministry of agriculture identifies, among others, the need to “Accelerate programmes for the youth empowerment in agriculture.” We appreciate the cooperation of your staff in Molo district and the work they did with us. We are happy that with your support and partnership we have been able to demystify Agriculture training for tomorrow’s farmers, reduce cost of feeding for boarding schools as well as inculcating healthy eating habits from an early age. The schools have become training centres for the communities living adjacent and also source of planting materials.
It is our wish to include as many schools and districts as possible in the programme. However, we limited in terms of resources and are only taking one step at a time. We are also avoiding spreading ourselves too thin. Nyandarua is one of our mandate districts of operation and soon (am not sure exactly when) we will initiate the programme in your district and benefit from your commitment and collaboration. For other districts we are considering liaising with our partners and collaborators with view to having them replicate the initiative in their districts. Meanwhile we are embarking on development of a manual for school gardens that can be adapted for different agro-ecological environments and circumstances.
Thank you for your partnership and collaboration in our initiative.
I would like to congratulate NECOFA for such innovative work. I am a small holder farmer and my children are beneficiaries of the School garden project and I have observed that the children are able to participate in farming actvities. The children actively participate in tree planting, animal husbandry, poultry, crop farming, and food preparation among other activities.
The project is important in providing necessary skills in farming that can help them even after school especially for those who may not contnue schooling after primary level.
Thank for sharing with us your observation on children involved in our school garden initiative. It is our aim that the students involved in the initiative become as practical as possible. We are conscious of the fact that over 50% of students leaving primary school end up in rural areas to participate with their parents in farming. The aim of the initiative is to tap the youth’s creativity and recharge small scale farming to make it more sustainable in realization of food and nutrition security.
This is to really thank you, Samuel and the NECOFA Team for the very good work done. The current food shortages and unemployment to the youth is quite challenging. Most of the youth only focus on 'white color jobs', which are not available. It is therefore encouraging to note that you are laying a good 'foundation' to the youth on agriculture, which will enhance employment creation, food security and wealth creation in the rural areas. Sustainability can only come from that very worthy direction. Keep up and try to involve more stakeholders. Bravo, NECOFA!!!
The orientation of our education system is in tandem with our country’s aspirations and priorities. Even the much hyped “vision 2030” does not seem to recognize that agriculture is the backbone of our economy and main employer of our people. It is also important to note that our population is on upward trend meaning more mouths to feed and more jobs/engagements. Even industrial growth is dependent agro products which makes it the primary resource for our development. Dependence on office-based employment and orienting our youth in that direction is sustainable and contributes to rural-urban migration, crime rate, HIV/Aids and poverty.
We try to involve as many collaborators as possible but who have direct contribution in the initiative. Some times we want to involve other but their cost of engagement is too high for us. However, we will welcome suggestion(s) on any other collaborators that we can contact and engage.
Samuel, Try to read my experience in the Philippines to complement your initiative in your place. This is collaboration of "School and Community Farmland Biodiversity Conservation Through Pesticides Free Campaign". you can generate idea how to maiximise your activity capitalizing on the activity and learning the concept of science, numbers and language. Thank you Julito.
Thank you for your comment and encouragement. Indeed the issue of sustainability is critical for any project and especially community projects. One contributing factor to unsustainability of projects is non-involvement of target or beneficiary communities in project formulation, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. In our initiative we have involved parents, school teachers, local leaders and collaborators at all stages. Step one in introducing the initiative in a school is meeting with teachers, school management committees and local leaders in which we go through the entire process of the initiative and where possible we back it up with video and exposure visit. It is our intention that they “own” the process from day one. Other steps include induction courses for at least 4 teachers per school and 2 of them become patrons for the project. In this case if a trained teacher is transferred there is always another one to take over. 4 parents also go through induction course on project management and eventually 2 of them become members of the project to give guidance. Book keeping, records and accounts are maintained at school level and we only provide back-up documentation and accounting. In this way we believe that the initiative will weather the challenges of time and be sustainable.
Congratulations for the win and my comment is that this is a good approach. I think it is applicable in our Arid and Semi Arid Area (ASAL) especially Kibwezi district with more training on water use efficiency and management. This will reduce involvement of children in searching for food and allow them more time for school and study. What do you think? We wish to learn more from you on the initiative and we are ready to pilot in few schools.
I agree with you entirely on the importance of conserving water and promoting technologies for water use efficiency. Kenya is a water deficient country with about 60% of the land falling in the arid and semi arid. The entire country is dependent on its 5 main water towers that unfortunately have severely been destroyed in last 20 or so years. This has resulted in more flooding and drying of rivers that previously run the year round. Weak policies have allowed for uncontrolled exploitation of the limited water resource (especially for industry, horticulture and floriculture farming especially for export market) thereby resulting in high competition for the same. Water based conflicts are on the increase as communities leaving downstream receive little or no water.
In our initiative we have focused on the Mau complex which is source for rivers draining into Lakes Victoria, Baringo, Nakuru etc. whose volume of flow has greatly reduced and others becoming intermittent. The school gardens in Molo are raising tree seedlings (especially indigenous ones) for planting by communities and in schools. Every school term we conduct youth-led environmental days in which the youth sensitize communities on need for conserving and maintaining clean environment. They do this through song, dance, poems, posters placards and action including tree planting and cleaning streets.
Even in dry Baringo the youth raise seedlings for trees and sensitize communities on need to conserve the environment. Water harvesting is also emphasized including building of tired ridges to harvest rainwater on the farm. Right now we installing a wind propelled water pump for Kokwa island Primary School on Lake Baringo with support from Friends of Kenya Schools and Wildlife (FKSW) of USA. The school garden project in the school will be able to tap water from Lake Baringo to improve on their food production consequently reducing their dependence on food aid. The youth from this pastoral community learn other means of food production than just dependence on livestock; learn to cook and eat a bigger variety of foods. This will result in more food available and improved food and nutrition.
In Eldume and Kokwa primary schools also in Baringo we are raising funds to enable them establish simple, low cost drip-irrigation kits that will result in efficient utilization of the little water available to them for food production. In Mukinyai primary school in Molo we are raising funds to enable them install a hydrum pump to draw water from Molo River that they will use to improve on their farming and for other uses.
We are very conscious of the importance of water use efficiency accrued and its benefits. Like you rightly mention with better use of our water resources we will have less hungry people and less searching (begging) of food especially involving children. Children will have more time for school and better future livelihoods and we will be able to break the vicious cycle of poverty. It may sound far fetched but we have learned to appreciate contributions of participatory, simple, low cost solutions for complex situations.
I congratulate you for the good work you have done for the community. Am especially interested in your field in conserving the environment since we know that if we destroy our environment we are destroying our future. People like us who deal with Tourism we support you in environment conservation because if we keep a closed eye and destroy our environment, all indigenous and man made forest will disappear and thus the Tourism will be affected. I visited your school garden project and it is very encouraging since our little kids will grow knowing the importance of enviroment and they will conserve it.
To conclude my advise to all people is that they should contribute in the conservation of our environment since we are dependent on it.
The success and sustainability of our tourism is dependent on how well we manage our natural resources. Our tourism is dependent on our rich and diverse wildlife and beautiful landscape. Also important, but rarely mentioned, is the role played by communities who co-exist with the wildlife and their efforts in conservation.
Some of our school garden projects Kailer, Kokwa and Eldume are in arid areas, which also happen to be important tourist destinations. Michinda School is a boarding school drawing students from all over the country including from urban backgrounds, pastoral communities, tourist destination areas. In the initiative we emphasize importance of conservation of the environment in which our tourism is dependent and protection of our wildlife.
Another thing that we feel is important is to expose tourists visiting Kenya to local communities and their cultures including food, housing, lifestyle, community development initiatives etc. In doing this we have partnered with Friends of Kenya Schools and Wildlife (FKSW), Maendeleo Endelevu Action Programme (MEAP) and Slow Food Central Rift convivium whose goal is “To provide opportunities for people to interact learn and participate in actions related to livelihood, biodiversity and culture.” Objectives include exposing visitors to field experiences, including visits to communities, schools, game parks, heritage and other sites of interest, and different geographical areas; provide education and information on topics of interest; e.g., health issues, governance, culture, education, livelihoods and governance; expose visitors to participatory community development opportunities and different cultural traditions; expose visitors to issues of food including production, culinary practices and intergenerational knowledge transfer.
We have been privileged to host some tourist in our initiative, thanks to Clarion safaris, and they interacted and learned from the students and teachers. On their part the tourists shared their experiences with us and even participated with students in tree planting and dancing. We are optimistic that this collaboration and partnership will continue to grow for the benefit of our growing youth, tourism in Kenya and welfare of our people and country.
Congraturations for winning the first stage in this competition. I am hoping this is a sign of good things to happen.NECOFA has re-energised the understanding and invovement of the youth in agiculture in our schools.
Having participated in your activities while teaching in Ukambani we were able to reduce the food bought from the market and improve on the quality and variety of the food.
I have since moved to Kitui and was wonderig wheather you intend to introduce the same to secondary schools.
This am sure could have an impact and change the stracture of our farmers where the average age of the kenyan farmer is 59 years . the youth must be encouraged to take on farming, this could even improve the rate at which new technologies are introduced in farming.
Bravo and wish you the best
Dear Mr. Mutua,
I agree with you on the need to change the current situation where “the average age of the Kenyan farmer is 59 years”. Every profession requires energizing and youthful creativity including farming to be able to address the ever emerging challenges and demands. The programme is also applicable in secondary schools but with some adjustments.
It is important to advocate for change in perception at secondary school level where teachers and policy make students to feel more like pre-university material that don’t need to learn practical skills. In secondary schools agriculture is treated as a junior science and only weak students are encouraged to sit for it. Agriculture teachers are ill-equipped and offer little or no practical skills. Even the JIKA funded project on Strengthening Mathematics and Sciences in Secondary Schools (SMASSE) does not recognize agriculture as a science. This is despite the fact that over 50% of them return back home to join their parents in eking livelihood in rural areas as farmers unfortunately not well prepared for this life. We need to prepare our youth well to positively embrace farming as a means of livelihood and for those who become other professionals to learn to respect the food producers for the important role they play of feeding the nation. They also become more conscious when making food choices.
Our programme is mainly in primary schools but since last year we have included one secondary school, Njenga Karume Secondary School. We would wish to involve more of them but are limited in terms of resources. We are working hard to improve our capability and scope and soon we will be in more secondary schools. Meanwhile we invite other NGO’s working in the thematic area of sustainable agriculture to replicate our initiative in their areas and adapt it to prevailing local situation.
Thank you for your comment and suggestions
Regards
Samuel
Congratulations Samuel and the entire NECOFA team. It is encouraging to see that you are making good and positive effort to tap the positive energy that the youth have. I am also impressed by the effort to encourage the youth to use what is locally available to them to improve their standards of living. I am sure that any positive development from this effort will greatly affect the entire community positively.
I hope you also have other projects that encourage the communities that you work with to adapt appropriate technology instead of rellying on the expensive imported technology.
Thank you for your valuable comment. NECOFA believes and promotes minimum use of external inputs and emphasizes utilization of local resources. We promote ecological farming which is highly dependent on locally available biological resources and indigenous knowledge of the communities. The youth of this country comprise over 60% and like you rightly observe this is great potential for sustainable development if properly oriented and organized. They also have a lot of energy and creativity that only requires recognition, tapping and appreciation. Their potential is critical not only for their own benefit but for the entire community and nation.
Investing in the youth is investing in posterity and sustainability. It is also true that you can only straighten a tree seedling when it is young. I wish to point out further that values that we learn to respect when young remain important to us even in old age. In other words adulthood is a product of cumulative learning experience when young.
Dear Samuel and Necofa Team,
Congratulations for the first prize win. Your initiative is very good and sounds wonderful to the young generation. Am a youth from central Kenya and the school garden initiative attracted me very much since I remember in our days we used to hate agriculture very much. In schools it was part of punishment to us and this created a negative image towards agriculture. Is it possible to integrate youths out of school in this initiative? In my view I think this can help the many hopeless youths who are loitering everywhere looking for job opportunities and at the same time it will cater for food security issues. If it can be possible I would wish your organization to consider the youth groups that we already have in our areas. Am sure the pupils participating in this have already developed positive attitude towards agriculture unlike us and this will help build a better nation. Bravo once again and I wish you all the best.
I am elated to hear about your Early Entry Prize in the Changemakers Competition for the School Garden Initiative. Congratulations!
I see your work with youth gardeners as a way of bringing focus to rural communities and showing just how important it is to start children down the path of conservation, knowledge and a life-long love of food and agricultural learning.
The hands-on experience which your students receive will also do much to widen the circle of knowledge to include parents, elders and other community members. It is amazing how often it is the youth that teach the older generation! Your school garden initiative seems primed to do just this.
Not only will your school gardens teach valuable agricultural skills, they will be training conscious food consumers as the children work and learn with their hands-- literally-- in the dirt. After all, every one of us is an eater-- shouldn't we all know about how our food comes to be (..and the environmental aspects which are touched upon by the farming process)?
Your gardens will help raise a generation that will produce food with a passion and think about how food choices reflect upon (and can HINDER or HELP) rural landscapes. I have been seeing this magic at work with my own work here in the USA where the school garden movement is growing, educating and gathering a following by leaps and bounds.
I wish you much success and look forward to following the process of this competition and your garden work.
Dear Samuel,
Its our hope that you win and scale up your good work. By the way, you are doing a lot for the young and your area of operation; could you have thought of linking the schools and having them share their experience or even showcase their work in the 11 schools, this could attract others and such a forum could be used to pass other forms of messages that would assist youth development.
We could like to collaborate with you as a youth group, your activities are very useful to the young.
Kind regards,
Mwaura Nderitu
What a wonderful iniatiave. Please accept my gratification for your great efforts that are worth noting. In addition, to your initial success. It's wonderful working with the youth as it's a way of investing for the future as this is the generation that belongs to tomorrow. This approach is worth noting and scaling it up
I work for a public institution that deals mulberry production for silk production. This is a subsector in the agriculture sector. It has a great potential in addressing such challenges as foodsecurity, employment creation, wealth creation, earing of foreign currency and environmental/biodiversity sustainability.
However, our approach is abit different from your and i would wish to borrow a leave from you.
I think there is need for us to start collaborating with you with a view to addressing varous challenges affecting our country more so the youth. I believe in so doing, we are likely to take advantages of the synergies so created.
King'uru
Officer in Charge
National Sericulture Station
Thika
Dear Samuel,
This is great step towards the achievement of the country's 2030 development goals. As mentioned in the initiative we have the youth finishing the basic education without what is really basic for them to survive in the rural areas if they do not make to higher education levels. Farming has now been left to the retires disregarding the potential that it has as the Kenyan economic back bone.
With the school gardening activities i believe the youth will be armed with the necessary skill and love for the soil and they will be able to turn the farms into the old beauty full of diversity and life, feeding the nation while they empower themselves and the community economically.
This will reduce the rural urban immigration and all the evils that befall it.
As a matter of fact the youth working in the farms which are small scaled in Kenya will further strengthen the family link which will reduce much of the parents burden.
Living and studying in Italy i have seen the powers of working as a family.
I am wishing you all the best in this initiative.
dear samwel,
congratulations for the efforts which your organization is trying to put especially on enlightening the young people on the importance of agriculture. Its quiet elaborate that much have been left undone, and many opportunities drains away while some able bodied youths can be a real backbone to such success, but due to lack of motivation and knowhow the opportunities doesn't benefit the individuals nor the nation at large.
Its believed that some parts of kenya are starving while others have surplus and
this brings me to pose a question on how your organization is trying to enhance the young people at large to learn and appreciate other other cultures, bearing in mind that kenya is composed of different cultures and thus certain people are only associated with certain food. is there anything being done to ensure you enlighten young people to embrace and accept culinary cultures from other communities in order to curb the hunger?
Dear Samuel and Necofa Team,
Bravo, Your win is ours too. You deserved it. Keep up the good work, now that the studentys produce food to subsidise what the schools could have used to purchase the food. What happens to the money saved? maybe you could suggest that the money saved could be used to start a fund in the schools to cater forthe less fortunate in society, thus could be a way of teaching the students to also give back to society.It could start small maybe topay fees for one of them who is needy or for a neighbouring school for those in schools attended by the slightly more fortunate.
Kind regards,
Mungethoman.
We are very grateful for your win Samwel. We cant let it pass without giving you a pat on the back! Your project is a good example of what our future generations need. The school garden project is such a success to the young ones! You should watch my class four boys working on the garden, their love for soil is beyond our expectations. The money they have saved will definately be put aside for books and writting materials. HOGERA SANA!
Congratulation for your great Job! Poverty is the major driving force towards Rural-Urban migration in growing youth not only in Kenya but also in other developing countries and the average age of farmers reaching all time high in many countries. The promise of the city always dissapoints, leading to social and cultural disintegration and further erosion of unique food heritages and identities. On the other hand financial, social and environmental pressures are forcing many young farmers away from their family farms all around the world, leaving the sector open to big business interests and homogenization. With all these in mind, our great challenge is to support these young people who wish to enter into agriculture and food production. This is a great project that will bring together the growing number of young people not only in Kenya but around the world to actively seek a better alternative mode of food production. We should promote sustainable agriculture and local food production as a viable and rewarding vocation for young people. We can also think of exchanges both local and international. What do you think?? Congrats once more.
Congratulations to you and your NECOFA team, not only for winning the early entry prize, but for submitting a unique and important project. The School Garden Initiative is perfect for Kenya, but it might also serve as a model for similar projects in many other parts of the world. The project is comprehensive in scope, universal in implementation and could have long-lasting benefits for anyone who participates. It could be a valuable component in teaching children (and adults) who currently eat unhealthy and non-nutritious food that results in disease and obesity, about the importance of quality food. In short, the School Garden Initiative has the potential to change peoples' lives!
Another very strong vote in your favor is that you have been supporting school garden projects in the Molo area for several years and many have seen the benefits of this program. As the Director of Friends of Kenya Schools and Wildlife, a partner organization to NECOFA in supporting the school garden projects, I have visited the school gardens at Mukinyai, Michinda, Kiambiriria, El Dume, Kokwa, St. Brendan's and Olengurone Primary Schools in the Molo and Baringo Districts.
I have spoken with the teachers and students and have seen the excitement and enthusiasm they have for all aspects of the project...from clearing the land to harvesting their crops and consuming the food both at school and at home. The students have already begun teaching what they are learning to their parents and to visitors (like us!). They are articulate when they share their knowledge and experiences and clearly understand and value their learning. I hear that many of these students also graduate at the top of their class!
Finally, I, too, have learned from this project...I LOVE the storey gardens and will plant one here in Oregon when the weather is a bit warmer!
Best wishes and thank you for all you do!
Gwen Meyer
Director, Friends of Kenya Schools and Wildlife
First I apologize for not responding to your comment soon enough. Similarly I apologize to all the others whose comments I have not responded to. I was in Baringo district in the semiarid north working on water supply system for our Kokwa Island school garden project. The water from Lake Baringo will be pumped using wind energy to reservoir from where it will be led to the school garden plot and school kitchen. The students will also have stand pipe from where they will fetch water for bathing and washing thereby reducing their visit to the lake which has become very dangerous especially crocodiles and hippos.
I agree with you Lucy that teachers misused students by having them work on teachers gardens and like you mention by using farm work as punishment for wrong doing. This made many youth hate farming and it is this perception that we wish to change. It is our feeling that the teachers owe society and for that reason we involve current teachers to change that mentality on the part of fellow teachers, school administration, parents and students.
I do agree that we have several youth groups composed of out of school youth in rural areas doing different projects. It is possible to graft some ideas of school gardens in their activities and we have started working in this direction. We have devised a different approach that focuses more on them working together (than individually), income generation, peaceful coexistence, environmental conservation and local resources mobilization (especially through revolving credit fund). We do build partnership between these groups and school garden projects in their neighborhood to tap on synergy.
I am not sure we can extend our services to Central Kenya soon but if you gave us your contact and location we can suggest way(s) of initiating the programme there (possibly through our other partners and collaborators.
Thank you for encouragement. It is true that our initiative uses the young children to reach adults parents, teachers, community members and leaders. As you rightly observe there is a lot that adults learn from children.
The students get to learn the Slow Food philosophy of “Good”, “Fair” and “Clean” early in life and if all children benefited from similar knowledge we will end up with a society more conscious of quality in food and defenders of biodiversity. I am greatly impressed by your experiences in US on school gardens where the “movement is growing, educating and gathering a following by leaps and bounds.” I think we should now work toward establishment of network for school gardens so that we share experiences and knowledge. Thank you once again and ASANTE
Congrats to Necofa and team for a worthwhile venture. Molo is a volatile area which suffers insecurity every
time the Kenyas elections nears, Necofa is playing a vital role in bringing both the teachers and their pupils together through this innovative idea, surely to me this is what thinking globally and acting locally means.
Keep up the good work Samuel and your team and may you and your team reach as many schools as possible especially here in Molo. God Bless...
This idea is good, but something missing here, you know this initiative is a very good input to education. Meaning use every activity in the field as input to learning process. Sometime what happen is, students are doing gardening, becoming a laborers in the sense that they do not know what they are doing, they just work because it is the idea of the teacher to make a garden you can harvest vegetables or orther crops. But if you are going to translate every activity into scientific process that becomes a very good inputs, such as land prepartion. seed soaking and other activity. a lot of scientific concept that could be link and translated into learning activity "Learning while Earning" Thank you.
Congratulations Samuel and the entire NECOFA Team. This is a great idea which is inculcating positive values in the youth both in food and sustainable environment. Further it is contributing towards the attainment of millennium development goals of alleviating extreme hunger and poverty as well as ensuring environmental sustainability. Maendeleo Endelevu Action Program (MEAP) has environmental clubs in schools, how can we integrate the school gardens in these clubs?
Congratulations to NECOFA team. Your success is our success. The initiative is quite a healthy investment that focuses on the future of our country. Agriculture contributes a big percentage of the country’s GDP but has been ignored for long despite its contribution. The school garden initiative will contribute greatly in changing the youth to appreciate agriculture as a noble career and prepare them to be good leaders of tomorrow.
I would like to give a standing ovation to Mr. Muhunyu and the team
for the great idea in promoting school garden projects to another level. This is a vast perspective especially in advocating for responsibility and power in young generating in impacting agricultural skill and knowledge useful for future prosperity. Focusing on the implementation of the millennium development goals set to eradicate hunger and reduce poverty by 2015, I find school garden projects amongst the major long term strategies to be advocated globally in order to promote sustainability. As a viable project I strongly believe it can reduce hunger in schools and the surrounding communities through organic farming. The students ability to pass the acquired skills and knowledge to their parents and hence to the community is definitely clear. It will also promote self employment and empower the youth and the community and for this reason reduce poverty and dependency. As a university student I believe it’s a valuable food for thought to all stakeholders and other institutions to take part and ensure progress and development in the school garden projects to a new level. My great concern is to higher institutes of learning to take up the challenge and participate in establishing the school garden in colleges and universities and also outreach to the community. Finally I hope this initiative inspires you and your team to continue your outstanding work in years ahead. I look forward to seeing you and the team at the top of the score board. Once again congrats! Bene.
Bravo Mr Samuel and the entire NECOFA. What a brilliant idea. Being a teacher, I fully support the school garden initiative which, when introduced will help our pupils to change our environment. Agriculture, being our country's backbone to the economy highly depends on such innovations. Sir, when are you coming for the introduction of the same in our school??
I wish to congratulate Mr. Samuel and Necofa fraternity for such a wonderful idea. This is one of the great ideas Kenya needs for it to be food secure. Being a Secondary School teacher, I wish to know if the same can be replicated in secondary schools and encourage students to take agriculture more positively.
It is great to read about your good work on the changemakers competition, We believe in culcating positive behaviour in our youth from when their young. So, I strongly believe your unique idea is a move on the right direction. Keep up the good work, and let our collaboration be our strength.
Hallo Samuel, My name is Manlio, and I am currently in Kenya doing a research on GMO food crops, I came across your initiative from the changemakers competition page, as i have always been a participant of the changemakers community in sharing unique ideas and initiatives. I believe your idea is quite unique considering that we should shape the future of our youth when they are young, and once they know what it means to produce good quality food and make informed decisions in their choice of food, we shall no longer have issues of GMO and other commercialized food products, as they will learn the importance of our indigenous food products and their uses. If time allows I wish to visit one of your school gardens. I am currently in Nairobi, and you can contact me on (manliostrainer@yahoo.com).
Congratulations, for winning the first entry prize. Your innovation is surely unique and very important to school going children, as Agriculture is no longer taken as a serious subject in schools, hence students believe in white collar jobs, and these is causing rural -urban migration, leaving the elderly in the farms, leading to low food production, loss of food varieties but creating monotony in food production.
Comentarios
We from NECOFA have submitted our innovation on School Garden Initiative,we invite you all to share your comments and ideas, so as to enrich the innovation. Thank you.
I thoroughly enjoyed your entry and it's cross-sector (ag and education) approach to rural development. A colleague informed us about other interesting projects you are working on. Please let the community know about these other fascinating initiatives.
Bardia
Changemakers
Dear Bardia,
We wish to thank you for contributing on our initiative, we are working with food communities hence promoting the different initiatives.
Dear Bardia,
Besides the school garden initiative Necofa is invoved in other activities/programmes that include:-
(i) Community-Led peace process
Following the politically instigated post election violence in Kenya in 2008 and considering that Molo was one of the hotspots of the violence and that many of the community members initially working with Necofa were directly or indirectly involved; Necofa joined hands with other local civil society organizations to form Multistakeholders Coordination Consortium (MISCC) miscc.wordress.com in providing humantarian aid support and currently fostering community led peace process.
(ii) Food and livelihood security programme
The programmes overall objective is To work towards revitalization of farming and food security at household level among smallholder farmers in Molo district.
(iii) Reclaming "eroded glory" of indigenous food culture
In partnership with Slow Food movement Necofa is sensitizing the community and policy makers on merits of indigenous food culture in food and nutrition security. Indigenous foods are more adopted to our fragile environment and by practicing diversity there is more resilience.
(iv) Social-economic empowerment of women
Considering that Women are the principle producers of food in subsistence agriculture. They enjoy less social and economic power; women and girls are at greater risk of HIV infection than men and boys and have a more difficult time protecting themselves. Their lower status and limited livelihood opportunities often force women and girls to turn to transactional sex for food or income to survive. The project addresses the situation of women through promotion of equality between men and women, relieving of the workload of women through the provision of clean water, introduction of appropriate, relevant and affordable technology, promoting use of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) at smaller scale to reduce cost.
(v) Promotion of underutilized plant species
This project works with communities in domestication of plant species previously found in the forest; value addition and marketing. Among these products are Stinging Nettle (Urtica masaica), Prunus Africana, Mushrooms, other teas and herbs
Thank you for your interest in our work.
Samuel
Congratulations! On behalf of the Changemakers team, we are honored to declare you a winner of the Early Entry Prize for the “Cultivating Innovation: Solutions for Rural Communities” collaborative competition! As a reward, you will receive a cell phone and a digital camera!
We hope that by submitting your innovation early, you have been able to generate feedback, dialogue, and insight about your initiative. Showcasing your blueprint and the challenges involved in creating social impact advises potential investors about how best to improve funding/investing patterns for the sector and to maximize the strategic impact and effectiveness of their future investments.
Please remember that your selection as an Early Entry Prize winner does not preclude you from winning the competition in any way, or guarantee finalist status—all entries will be equally evaluated per the Changemakers criteria at the completion of the entry period.
Congratulations, again!
Best wishes,
The Changemakers Team
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The Changemakers Team
Ashoka's Changemakers
Dear Amelia,
It is with sweet surprise and great joy that I received your email upon returning to the office from the field. I realize that you have quite many entrants each with unique and interesting innovation and picking a winner must have been quite a task.
We have learned a lot from participating in this competition especially from other entries, comments and discussions. It has been very inspiring. We will continue in the discussions not only to win in the next round but more to learn and share experiencies with others.
I take this opportunity to thank the Change makers Team for all your support and encouragement.
Kind regards,
Samuel K. Muhunyu.
Hi Samuel,
Congratuations again! Please know that I have reached out to Gwen and asked her a few questions about setting up a nonprofit, as I'd like to develop one that would be used primarily as a fund-raising mechanism for sustainable agriculture projects in East Africa and India. My current job is keeping me extremely busy right now but I hope we can work together more closely in the near future. Like everyone else who has commented here, I remain inspired by your work, projects, passion, vision and leadership. Please send everyone at NECOFA my greetings.
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Kathryn Bertram
Dear Kathryn,
We understand that you are very busy and we are grateful for your concern and interest in our work. We do also remember and recognize your contribution and participation in our school garden initiave when you lived with us here during your university stage in 2007. Since then we have had other students participate in our project from Europe and your country US. We are receiving one young man from your country next month who will be with us for 2 months. In September ,we shall have another masters student for 2 months from the University of Gastronomic sciences. Jane, from the same university is back in Kenya after her graduation and she is now directly involved in the initiative. Your participation with us and that of others adds value to our initiative. it is my hope that you will succeed in your initiative and look forward to working with you much more. Our initiative is growing but we would wish to extend much further in our country but resources are limiting.
Samuel .
Congratulation Samuel and NECOFA for for this innovative idea. I am really impressed and wish to commend you for such great innovation. However, in our colaboration work with NECOFA we have been engaging in environemental work and tree planting including agroforestry practices that you also involve the school going youth. You have not given this perspective in your case and I think its critical in passing necessary knwledge and skills to the students that is also replicated at home and community.
Thank you for sharing your case
Dear Mau Community Forest Association (MACOFA),
Thank you for your comment. In deed MACOFA has played important role in sensitizing the growing youth on the importance of the environment and tree planting. We do also appreciate your work in mobilizing communities towards restoring the Mau water shed which has been greatly destroyed through irresponsible human activities. The Mau is source to rivers that feed major lakes including Victoria, Nakuru and Baringo. Your participation in our initiative has greatly added value and increased efficiency and efficacy of the initiative. Schools participating in the initiative have tree nurseries in which the youth gain skills in raising trees seedlings (for fodder, fuel, building materials etc) and also planting them in the school compounds. The schools are a source of tree seedlings for the community and youth participate with community members in tree planting events organized by MACOFA and other collaborators. MACOFA also participate with us in educating the students and communities on other tree and forestry related enterprises like bee keeping and harvesting of non-timber forestry resources including Stinging nettle, Prunus Africana, traditional sustainable l vegetables, herbs and medicinal plants. We are greatful to MACOFA and are happy that you are associated with our initiative.
Dear colleagues at NECOFA
Thank you for working with the youth on this.
We are doing similar work. Lets network, share experiences and strengthen each other.
Keep up the good work
Please visit our websites www.rescopeprogramme.org and www.ipc9.org. I will also email to you our entry.
Best regards
Mugove Walter Nyika
Regional Coordinator
Regional Schools and Colleges Permaculture (ReSCOPE) Programme
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Reconnecting with nature: Permaculture design for African abundance
congratulations samwel and the NECOFA team! This reminds me of the close collaboration we had with NECOFA in the revitalizing of 4-kclubs in Molo District when i worked there as the District Agricultural officer. The clubs motto is“kuungana,kufanya kusaidia kujenga kenya“Working together to develop our country through the 4-k club movement in terms of demystifying Agriculture,training tomorrow farmers today,reducing on cost of feeding for boarding schools as well as inculcating healthy eating habits from an early age. This you ably did through establishment of school gardens in the primary schools in the District,which became a ready source of food to the schools as well as learning and demonstration centres not only for the pupils but their parents and other community members who visited the schools during open days.
I look forward to having you establish school gardens in Nyandarua district where I am currently. Let us continue the collaboration in rural youth development.
Wishing you all the best in the school gardens initiative.
mary
Dear Mary,
Necofa works and collaborates with government ministries and departments. We always endeavor to operate within government policies and priorities. We do recognize that he role of civil society is NOT to contradict government policy but to compliment positive and practical policies. The initiative is in line with the government’s “strategy for Revitalizing Agriculture, 2004-2014 (SRA) in which the Ministry of agriculture identifies, among others, the need to “Accelerate programmes for the youth empowerment in agriculture.” We appreciate the cooperation of your staff in Molo district and the work they did with us. We are happy that with your support and partnership we have been able to demystify Agriculture training for tomorrow’s farmers, reduce cost of feeding for boarding schools as well as inculcating healthy eating habits from an early age. The schools have become training centres for the communities living adjacent and also source of planting materials.
It is our wish to include as many schools and districts as possible in the programme. However, we limited in terms of resources and are only taking one step at a time. We are also avoiding spreading ourselves too thin. Nyandarua is one of our mandate districts of operation and soon (am not sure exactly when) we will initiate the programme in your district and benefit from your commitment and collaboration. For other districts we are considering liaising with our partners and collaborators with view to having them replicate the initiative in their districts. Meanwhile we are embarking on development of a manual for school gardens that can be adapted for different agro-ecological environments and circumstances.
Thank you for your partnership and collaboration in our initiative.
Samuel
I would like to congratulate NECOFA for such innovative work. I am a small holder farmer and my children are beneficiaries of the School garden project and I have observed that the children are able to participate in farming actvities. The children actively participate in tree planting, animal husbandry, poultry, crop farming, and food preparation among other activities.
The project is important in providing necessary skills in farming that can help them even after school especially for those who may not contnue schooling after primary level.
Njoroge Nderitu
email: fnderitu08@yahoo.com
Bwana Njoroge,
Thank for sharing with us your observation on children involved in our school garden initiative. It is our aim that the students involved in the initiative become as practical as possible. We are conscious of the fact that over 50% of students leaving primary school end up in rural areas to participate with their parents in farming. The aim of the initiative is to tap the youth’s creativity and recharge small scale farming to make it more sustainable in realization of food and nutrition security.
Regards
Samuel
This is to really thank you, Samuel and the NECOFA Team for the very good work done. The current food shortages and unemployment to the youth is quite challenging. Most of the youth only focus on 'white color jobs', which are not available. It is therefore encouraging to note that you are laying a good 'foundation' to the youth on agriculture, which will enhance employment creation, food security and wealth creation in the rural areas. Sustainability can only come from that very worthy direction. Keep up and try to involve more stakeholders. Bravo, NECOFA!!!
Dear Josphat,
The orientation of our education system is in tandem with our country’s aspirations and priorities. Even the much hyped “vision 2030” does not seem to recognize that agriculture is the backbone of our economy and main employer of our people. It is also important to note that our population is on upward trend meaning more mouths to feed and more jobs/engagements. Even industrial growth is dependent agro products which makes it the primary resource for our development. Dependence on office-based employment and orienting our youth in that direction is sustainable and contributes to rural-urban migration, crime rate, HIV/Aids and poverty.
We try to involve as many collaborators as possible but who have direct contribution in the initiative. Some times we want to involve other but their cost of engagement is too high for us. However, we will welcome suggestion(s) on any other collaborators that we can contact and engage.
Kind regards
Samuel
Samuel, Try to read my experience in the Philippines to complement your initiative in your place. This is collaboration of "School and Community Farmland Biodiversity Conservation Through Pesticides Free Campaign". you can generate idea how to maiximise your activity capitalizing on the activity and learning the concept of science, numbers and language. Thank you Julito.
Its a commendable efforts. The entireteam of SIF will want to congratulate you for good work done.
But i think there is more work to be done.
Please look at sustainability. I believe if the models of sustainability is well structured , the Project will have much greater impact .
Kind Regards
Dear SIF team,
Thank you for your comment and encouragement. Indeed the issue of sustainability is critical for any project and especially community projects. One contributing factor to unsustainability of projects is non-involvement of target or beneficiary communities in project formulation, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. In our initiative we have involved parents, school teachers, local leaders and collaborators at all stages. Step one in introducing the initiative in a school is meeting with teachers, school management committees and local leaders in which we go through the entire process of the initiative and where possible we back it up with video and exposure visit. It is our intention that they “own” the process from day one. Other steps include induction courses for at least 4 teachers per school and 2 of them become patrons for the project. In this case if a trained teacher is transferred there is always another one to take over. 4 parents also go through induction course on project management and eventually 2 of them become members of the project to give guidance. Book keeping, records and accounts are maintained at school level and we only provide back-up documentation and accounting. In this way we believe that the initiative will weather the challenges of time and be sustainable.
Regards
Samuel
Dear Necofa and Samuel,
Congratulations for the win and my comment is that this is a good approach. I think it is applicable in our Arid and Semi Arid Area (ASAL) especially Kibwezi district with more training on water use efficiency and management. This will reduce involvement of children in searching for food and allow them more time for school and study. What do you think? We wish to learn more from you on the initiative and we are ready to pilot in few schools.
Kind regards,
Priscilla Nzamalu
nzamalupn@yahoo.com
Dear Priscilla,
I agree with you entirely on the importance of conserving water and promoting technologies for water use efficiency. Kenya is a water deficient country with about 60% of the land falling in the arid and semi arid. The entire country is dependent on its 5 main water towers that unfortunately have severely been destroyed in last 20 or so years. This has resulted in more flooding and drying of rivers that previously run the year round. Weak policies have allowed for uncontrolled exploitation of the limited water resource (especially for industry, horticulture and floriculture farming especially for export market) thereby resulting in high competition for the same. Water based conflicts are on the increase as communities leaving downstream receive little or no water.
In our initiative we have focused on the Mau complex which is source for rivers draining into Lakes Victoria, Baringo, Nakuru etc. whose volume of flow has greatly reduced and others becoming intermittent. The school gardens in Molo are raising tree seedlings (especially indigenous ones) for planting by communities and in schools. Every school term we conduct youth-led environmental days in which the youth sensitize communities on need for conserving and maintaining clean environment. They do this through song, dance, poems, posters placards and action including tree planting and cleaning streets.
Even in dry Baringo the youth raise seedlings for trees and sensitize communities on need to conserve the environment. Water harvesting is also emphasized including building of tired ridges to harvest rainwater on the farm. Right now we installing a wind propelled water pump for Kokwa island Primary School on Lake Baringo with support from Friends of Kenya Schools and Wildlife (FKSW) of USA. The school garden project in the school will be able to tap water from Lake Baringo to improve on their food production consequently reducing their dependence on food aid. The youth from this pastoral community learn other means of food production than just dependence on livestock; learn to cook and eat a bigger variety of foods. This will result in more food available and improved food and nutrition.
In Eldume and Kokwa primary schools also in Baringo we are raising funds to enable them establish simple, low cost drip-irrigation kits that will result in efficient utilization of the little water available to them for food production. In Mukinyai primary school in Molo we are raising funds to enable them install a hydrum pump to draw water from Molo River that they will use to improve on their farming and for other uses.
We are very conscious of the importance of water use efficiency accrued and its benefits. Like you rightly mention with better use of our water resources we will have less hungry people and less searching (begging) of food especially involving children. Children will have more time for school and better future livelihoods and we will be able to break the vicious cycle of poverty. It may sound far fetched but we have learned to appreciate contributions of participatory, simple, low cost solutions for complex situations.
Thank you
Samuel
I congratulate you for the good work you have done for the community. Am especially interested in your field in conserving the environment since we know that if we destroy our environment we are destroying our future. People like us who deal with Tourism we support you in environment conservation because if we keep a closed eye and destroy our environment, all indigenous and man made forest will disappear and thus the Tourism will be affected. I visited your school garden project and it is very encouraging since our little kids will grow knowing the importance of enviroment and they will conserve it.
To conclude my advise to all people is that they should contribute in the conservation of our environment since we are dependent on it.
Dear Clarion Safari,
The success and sustainability of our tourism is dependent on how well we manage our natural resources. Our tourism is dependent on our rich and diverse wildlife and beautiful landscape. Also important, but rarely mentioned, is the role played by communities who co-exist with the wildlife and their efforts in conservation.
Some of our school garden projects Kailer, Kokwa and Eldume are in arid areas, which also happen to be important tourist destinations. Michinda School is a boarding school drawing students from all over the country including from urban backgrounds, pastoral communities, tourist destination areas. In the initiative we emphasize importance of conservation of the environment in which our tourism is dependent and protection of our wildlife.
Another thing that we feel is important is to expose tourists visiting Kenya to local communities and their cultures including food, housing, lifestyle, community development initiatives etc. In doing this we have partnered with Friends of Kenya Schools and Wildlife (FKSW), Maendeleo Endelevu Action Programme (MEAP) and Slow Food Central Rift convivium whose goal is “To provide opportunities for people to interact learn and participate in actions related to livelihood, biodiversity and culture.” Objectives include exposing visitors to field experiences, including visits to communities, schools, game parks, heritage and other sites of interest, and different geographical areas; provide education and information on topics of interest; e.g., health issues, governance, culture, education, livelihoods and governance; expose visitors to participatory community development opportunities and different cultural traditions; expose visitors to issues of food including production, culinary practices and intergenerational knowledge transfer.
We have been privileged to host some tourist in our initiative, thanks to Clarion safaris, and they interacted and learned from the students and teachers. On their part the tourists shared their experiences with us and even participated with students in tree planting and dancing. We are optimistic that this collaboration and partnership will continue to grow for the benefit of our growing youth, tourism in Kenya and welfare of our people and country.
We appreciate your contribution
Samuel
Congraturations for winning the first stage in this competition. I am hoping this is a sign of good things to happen.NECOFA has re-energised the understanding and invovement of the youth in agiculture in our schools.
Having participated in your activities while teaching in Ukambani we were able to reduce the food bought from the market and improve on the quality and variety of the food.
I have since moved to Kitui and was wonderig wheather you intend to introduce the same to secondary schools.
This am sure could have an impact and change the stracture of our farmers where the average age of the kenyan farmer is 59 years . the youth must be encouraged to take on farming, this could even improve the rate at which new technologies are introduced in farming.
Bravo and wish you the best
Peter Mwau Mutua.Kyuso High sch.
Dear Mr. Mutua,
I agree with you on the need to change the current situation where “the average age of the Kenyan farmer is 59 years”. Every profession requires energizing and youthful creativity including farming to be able to address the ever emerging challenges and demands. The programme is also applicable in secondary schools but with some adjustments.
It is important to advocate for change in perception at secondary school level where teachers and policy make students to feel more like pre-university material that don’t need to learn practical skills. In secondary schools agriculture is treated as a junior science and only weak students are encouraged to sit for it. Agriculture teachers are ill-equipped and offer little or no practical skills. Even the JIKA funded project on Strengthening Mathematics and Sciences in Secondary Schools (SMASSE) does not recognize agriculture as a science. This is despite the fact that over 50% of them return back home to join their parents in eking livelihood in rural areas as farmers unfortunately not well prepared for this life. We need to prepare our youth well to positively embrace farming as a means of livelihood and for those who become other professionals to learn to respect the food producers for the important role they play of feeding the nation. They also become more conscious when making food choices.
Our programme is mainly in primary schools but since last year we have included one secondary school, Njenga Karume Secondary School. We would wish to involve more of them but are limited in terms of resources. We are working hard to improve our capability and scope and soon we will be in more secondary schools. Meanwhile we invite other NGO’s working in the thematic area of sustainable agriculture to replicate our initiative in their areas and adapt it to prevailing local situation.
Thank you for your comment and suggestions
Regards
Samuel
Congratulations Samuel and the entire NECOFA team. It is encouraging to see that you are making good and positive effort to tap the positive energy that the youth have. I am also impressed by the effort to encourage the youth to use what is locally available to them to improve their standards of living. I am sure that any positive development from this effort will greatly affect the entire community positively.
I hope you also have other projects that encourage the communities that you work with to adapt appropriate technology instead of rellying on the expensive imported technology.
Good work, congratulations and all the best.
Dear Wamugure,
Thank you for your valuable comment. NECOFA believes and promotes minimum use of external inputs and emphasizes utilization of local resources. We promote ecological farming which is highly dependent on locally available biological resources and indigenous knowledge of the communities. The youth of this country comprise over 60% and like you rightly observe this is great potential for sustainable development if properly oriented and organized. They also have a lot of energy and creativity that only requires recognition, tapping and appreciation. Their potential is critical not only for their own benefit but for the entire community and nation.
Investing in the youth is investing in posterity and sustainability. It is also true that you can only straighten a tree seedling when it is young. I wish to point out further that values that we learn to respect when young remain important to us even in old age. In other words adulthood is a product of cumulative learning experience when young.
Kind regards and once again thanks
Samuel
Dear Samuel and Necofa Team,
Congratulations for the first prize win. Your initiative is very good and sounds wonderful to the young generation. Am a youth from central Kenya and the school garden initiative attracted me very much since I remember in our days we used to hate agriculture very much. In schools it was part of punishment to us and this created a negative image towards agriculture. Is it possible to integrate youths out of school in this initiative? In my view I think this can help the many hopeless youths who are loitering everywhere looking for job opportunities and at the same time it will cater for food security issues. If it can be possible I would wish your organization to consider the youth groups that we already have in our areas. Am sure the pupils participating in this have already developed positive attitude towards agriculture unlike us and this will help build a better nation. Bravo once again and I wish you all the best.
Yours truly,
Lucy
Dear Samuel and the NECOFA team,
I am elated to hear about your Early Entry Prize in the Changemakers Competition for the School Garden Initiative. Congratulations!
I see your work with youth gardeners as a way of bringing focus to rural communities and showing just how important it is to start children down the path of conservation, knowledge and a life-long love of food and agricultural learning.
The hands-on experience which your students receive will also do much to widen the circle of knowledge to include parents, elders and other community members. It is amazing how often it is the youth that teach the older generation! Your school garden initiative seems primed to do just this.
Not only will your school gardens teach valuable agricultural skills, they will be training conscious food consumers as the children work and learn with their hands-- literally-- in the dirt. After all, every one of us is an eater-- shouldn't we all know about how our food comes to be (..and the environmental aspects which are touched upon by the farming process)?
Your gardens will help raise a generation that will produce food with a passion and think about how food choices reflect upon (and can HINDER or HELP) rural landscapes. I have been seeing this magic at work with my own work here in the USA where the school garden movement is growing, educating and gathering a following by leaps and bounds.
I wish you much success and look forward to following the process of this competition and your garden work.
You have my full support!
Sincerely and with a hearty "Jambo,"
- Allison
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Allison Radecki
USA
Dear Samuel,
Its our hope that you win and scale up your good work. By the way, you are doing a lot for the young and your area of operation; could you have thought of linking the schools and having them share their experience or even showcase their work in the 11 schools, this could attract others and such a forum could be used to pass other forms of messages that would assist youth development.
We could like to collaborate with you as a youth group, your activities are very useful to the young.
Kind regards,
Mwaura Nderitu
Hi Sam.
What a wonderful iniatiave. Please accept my gratification for your great efforts that are worth noting. In addition, to your initial success. It's wonderful working with the youth as it's a way of investing for the future as this is the generation that belongs to tomorrow. This approach is worth noting and scaling it up
I work for a public institution that deals mulberry production for silk production. This is a subsector in the agriculture sector. It has a great potential in addressing such challenges as foodsecurity, employment creation, wealth creation, earing of foreign currency and environmental/biodiversity sustainability.
However, our approach is abit different from your and i would wish to borrow a leave from you.
I think there is need for us to start collaborating with you with a view to addressing varous challenges affecting our country more so the youth. I believe in so doing, we are likely to take advantages of the synergies so created.
King'uru
Officer in Charge
National Sericulture Station
Thika
Dear Samuel,
This is great step towards the achievement of the country's 2030 development goals. As mentioned in the initiative we have the youth finishing the basic education without what is really basic for them to survive in the rural areas if they do not make to higher education levels. Farming has now been left to the retires disregarding the potential that it has as the Kenyan economic back bone.
With the school gardening activities i believe the youth will be armed with the necessary skill and love for the soil and they will be able to turn the farms into the old beauty full of diversity and life, feeding the nation while they empower themselves and the community economically.
This will reduce the rural urban immigration and all the evils that befall it.
As a matter of fact the youth working in the farms which are small scaled in Kenya will further strengthen the family link which will reduce much of the parents burden.
Living and studying in Italy i have seen the powers of working as a family.
I am wishing you all the best in this initiative.
dear samwel,
congratulations for the efforts which your organization is trying to put especially on enlightening the young people on the importance of agriculture. Its quiet elaborate that much have been left undone, and many opportunities drains away while some able bodied youths can be a real backbone to such success, but due to lack of motivation and knowhow the opportunities doesn't benefit the individuals nor the nation at large.
Its believed that some parts of kenya are starving while others have surplus and
this brings me to pose a question on how your organization is trying to enhance the young people at large to learn and appreciate other other cultures, bearing in mind that kenya is composed of different cultures and thus certain people are only associated with certain food. is there anything being done to ensure you enlighten young people to embrace and accept culinary cultures from other communities in order to curb the hunger?
good luck in your efforts
jongugi
Dear Samuel and Necofa Team,
Bravo, Your win is ours too. You deserved it. Keep up the good work, now that the studentys produce food to subsidise what the schools could have used to purchase the food. What happens to the money saved? maybe you could suggest that the money saved could be used to start a fund in the schools to cater forthe less fortunate in society, thus could be a way of teaching the students to also give back to society.It could start small maybe topay fees for one of them who is needy or for a neighbouring school for those in schools attended by the slightly more fortunate.
Kind regards,
Mungethoman.
We are very grateful for your win Samwel. We cant let it pass without giving you a pat on the back! Your project is a good example of what our future generations need. The school garden project is such a success to the young ones! You should watch my class four boys working on the garden, their love for soil is beyond our expectations. The money they have saved will definately be put aside for books and writting materials. HOGERA SANA!
Dear Samuel and the Necofa team,
Congratulation for your great Job! Poverty is the major driving force towards Rural-Urban migration in growing youth not only in Kenya but also in other developing countries and the average age of farmers reaching all time high in many countries. The promise of the city always dissapoints, leading to social and cultural disintegration and further erosion of unique food heritages and identities. On the other hand financial, social and environmental pressures are forcing many young farmers away from their family farms all around the world, leaving the sector open to big business interests and homogenization. With all these in mind, our great challenge is to support these young people who wish to enter into agriculture and food production. This is a great project that will bring together the growing number of young people not only in Kenya but around the world to actively seek a better alternative mode of food production. We should promote sustainable agriculture and local food production as a viable and rewarding vocation for young people. We can also think of exchanges both local and international. What do you think?? Congrats once more.
Warmest Regards,
John Kariuki
Slow Food international-Italy
Dear Samuel,
Congratulations to you and your NECOFA team, not only for winning the early entry prize, but for submitting a unique and important project. The School Garden Initiative is perfect for Kenya, but it might also serve as a model for similar projects in many other parts of the world. The project is comprehensive in scope, universal in implementation and could have long-lasting benefits for anyone who participates. It could be a valuable component in teaching children (and adults) who currently eat unhealthy and non-nutritious food that results in disease and obesity, about the importance of quality food. In short, the School Garden Initiative has the potential to change peoples' lives!
Another very strong vote in your favor is that you have been supporting school garden projects in the Molo area for several years and many have seen the benefits of this program. As the Director of Friends of Kenya Schools and Wildlife, a partner organization to NECOFA in supporting the school garden projects, I have visited the school gardens at Mukinyai, Michinda, Kiambiriria, El Dume, Kokwa, St. Brendan's and Olengurone Primary Schools in the Molo and Baringo Districts.
I have spoken with the teachers and students and have seen the excitement and enthusiasm they have for all aspects of the project...from clearing the land to harvesting their crops and consuming the food both at school and at home. The students have already begun teaching what they are learning to their parents and to visitors (like us!). They are articulate when they share their knowledge and experiences and clearly understand and value their learning. I hear that many of these students also graduate at the top of their class!
Finally, I, too, have learned from this project...I LOVE the storey gardens and will plant one here in Oregon when the weather is a bit warmer!
Best wishes and thank you for all you do!
Gwen Meyer
Director, Friends of Kenya Schools and Wildlife
Dear Lucy,
First I apologize for not responding to your comment soon enough. Similarly I apologize to all the others whose comments I have not responded to. I was in Baringo district in the semiarid north working on water supply system for our Kokwa Island school garden project. The water from Lake Baringo will be pumped using wind energy to reservoir from where it will be led to the school garden plot and school kitchen. The students will also have stand pipe from where they will fetch water for bathing and washing thereby reducing their visit to the lake which has become very dangerous especially crocodiles and hippos.
I agree with you Lucy that teachers misused students by having them work on teachers gardens and like you mention by using farm work as punishment for wrong doing. This made many youth hate farming and it is this perception that we wish to change. It is our feeling that the teachers owe society and for that reason we involve current teachers to change that mentality on the part of fellow teachers, school administration, parents and students.
I do agree that we have several youth groups composed of out of school youth in rural areas doing different projects. It is possible to graft some ideas of school gardens in their activities and we have started working in this direction. We have devised a different approach that focuses more on them working together (than individually), income generation, peaceful coexistence, environmental conservation and local resources mobilization (especially through revolving credit fund). We do build partnership between these groups and school garden projects in their neighborhood to tap on synergy.
I am not sure we can extend our services to Central Kenya soon but if you gave us your contact and location we can suggest way(s) of initiating the programme there (possibly through our other partners and collaborators.
Once again thank you and sorry for delay
Samuel
Dear Allison,
Thank you for encouragement. It is true that our initiative uses the young children to reach adults parents, teachers, community members and leaders. As you rightly observe there is a lot that adults learn from children.
The students get to learn the Slow Food philosophy of “Good”, “Fair” and “Clean” early in life and if all children benefited from similar knowledge we will end up with a society more conscious of quality in food and defenders of biodiversity. I am greatly impressed by your experiences in US on school gardens where the “movement is growing, educating and gathering a following by leaps and bounds.” I think we should now work toward establishment of network for school gardens so that we share experiences and knowledge. Thank you once again and ASANTE
Samuel
Congrats to Necofa and team for a worthwhile venture. Molo is a volatile area which suffers insecurity every
time the Kenyas elections nears, Necofa is playing a vital role in bringing both the teachers and their pupils together through this innovative idea, surely to me this is what thinking globally and acting locally means.
Keep up the good work Samuel and your team and may you and your team reach as many schools as possible especially here in Molo. God Bless...
This idea is good, but something missing here, you know this initiative is a very good input to education. Meaning use every activity in the field as input to learning process. Sometime what happen is, students are doing gardening, becoming a laborers in the sense that they do not know what they are doing, they just work because it is the idea of the teacher to make a garden you can harvest vegetables or orther crops. But if you are going to translate every activity into scientific process that becomes a very good inputs, such as land prepartion. seed soaking and other activity. a lot of scientific concept that could be link and translated into learning activity "Learning while Earning" Thank you.
Congratulations Samuel and the entire NECOFA Team. This is a great idea which is inculcating positive values in the youth both in food and sustainable environment. Further it is contributing towards the attainment of millennium development goals of alleviating extreme hunger and poverty as well as ensuring environmental sustainability. Maendeleo Endelevu Action Program (MEAP) has environmental clubs in schools, how can we integrate the school gardens in these clubs?
Once more, congratulations!!
Congratulations to NECOFA team. Your success is our success. The initiative is quite a healthy investment that focuses on the future of our country. Agriculture contributes a big percentage of the country’s GDP but has been ignored for long despite its contribution. The school garden initiative will contribute greatly in changing the youth to appreciate agriculture as a noble career and prepare them to be good leaders of tomorrow.
Congratulations
I would like to give a standing ovation to Mr. Muhunyu and the team
for the great idea in promoting school garden projects to another
level. This is a vast perspective especially in advocating for
responsibility and power in young generating in impacting agricultural
skill and knowledge useful for future prosperity.
Focusing on the implementation of the millennium development goals set to
eradicate hunger and reduce poverty by 2015, I find school garden
projects amongst the major long term strategies to be advocated
globally in order to promote sustainability. As a viable project I
strongly believe it can reduce hunger in schools and the surrounding
communities through organic farming. The students ability to pass the
acquired skills and knowledge to their parents and hence to the
community is definitely clear. It will also promote self employment
and empower the youth and the community and for this reason reduce
poverty and dependency.
As a university student I believe it’s a valuable food for thought to
all stakeholders and other institutions to take part and ensure
progress and development in the school garden projects to a new level.
My great concern is to higher institutes of learning to take up the
challenge and participate in establishing the school garden in
colleges and universities and also outreach to the community.
Finally I hope this initiative inspires you and your team to continue
your outstanding work in years ahead. I look forward to seeing you and
the team at the top of the score board. Once again congrats! Bene.
Bravo Mr Samuel and the entire NECOFA. What a brilliant idea. Being a teacher, I fully support the school garden initiative which, when introduced will help our pupils to change our environment. Agriculture, being our country's backbone to the economy highly depends on such innovations. Sir, when are you coming for the introduction of the same in our school??
Congrats, once more.
I wish to congratulate Mr. Samuel and Necofa fraternity for such a wonderful idea. This is one of the great ideas Kenya needs for it to be food secure. Being a Secondary School teacher, I wish to know if the same can be replicated in secondary schools and encourage students to take agriculture more positively.
Congratulations !
Dear Samuel and the NECOFA team,
It is great to read about your good work on the changemakers competition, We believe in culcating positive behaviour in our youth from when their young. So, I strongly believe your unique idea is a move on the right direction. Keep up the good work, and let our collaboration be our strength.
Dear Samuel,
Hallo Samuel, My name is Manlio, and I am currently in Kenya doing a research on GMO food crops, I came across your initiative from the changemakers competition page, as i have always been a participant of the changemakers community in sharing unique ideas and initiatives. I believe your idea is quite unique considering that we should shape the future of our youth when they are young, and once they know what it means to produce good quality food and make informed decisions in their choice of food, we shall no longer have issues of GMO and other commercialized food products, as they will learn the importance of our indigenous food products and their uses. If time allows I wish to visit one of your school gardens. I am currently in Nairobi, and you can contact me on (manliostrainer@yahoo.com).
Best Wishes,
Manlio.
Dear Necofa Team,
Congratulations, for winning the first entry prize. Your innovation is surely unique and very important to school going children, as Agriculture is no longer taken as a serious subject in schools, hence students believe in white collar jobs, and these is causing rural -urban migration, leaving the elderly in the farms, leading to low food production, loss of food varieties but creating monotony in food production.
Keep up the good work, best wishes...
Fridah.
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