Poverty to green prosperity: Farming transforms families in Pokot, Mandera and Isiolo
By AGGREY OMBOKI
When the melons began to flower, the women were told to stay away from Jane’s kitchen garden.
“Our husbands had told us that the melons would go bad if we stepped on the patch,” says Jane Chepchumba.
Ms Chepchumba had joined other women in the Chamakagh Mother to Mother Support Group in Sigor sub-county, West Pokot County, to plant watermelons as well as kale, spinach and black night shade also known as managu.
The activity was part of an empowerment program by Action Against Hunger, (ACF) a nongovernmental organization that works in West Pokot, Mandera and Isiolo counties.
West Pokot County has a population of 621, 214 people. Out of these, 307,013 are men and 314,213 are women, with an intersex population of just 15.
The program, which seeks to sustainably address perennial hunger, covers Cheptule, Annet and Chepkook locations in Pokot Central which has 119, 016 people made up of 59,682 men and 59,331 women as recorded in the 2019 Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) census.
One of the causes of food insecurity in such patriarchal societies has been attributed to non-involvement of women in varied agricultural activities, as they are the children’s main caregivers in the home.
Prior to ACF’s entry into the matrix, the married women in the group in Cheptule location reared livestock and relied on their spouses to provide for their families.
All that changed in August 2020 when the group received a major boost from ACF.
“We had discussions with ACF personnel and the organization agreed to our request for assistance. The NGO helped us set up the kitchen garden,” he said.
According to ACF’s Food Security and Livelihood (FSL) Assistant Lucas Odhiambo, ACF is dedicated to fighting the causes and effects of hunger through integrated community empowerment.
“Working with the ministries of agriculture and health, we provided program beneficiaries with training on agriculture, seed, health information and basic financial management skills,” said Mr. Odhiambo.
ACF provided seed for the vegetable and watermelon project, and organized for visits by the ministry of agriculture’s extension officers.
According to Mr Odhiambo, some of the women are young widows, mostly due to loss of husbands to violent inter-community conflicts.
The program begun with some misgivings from the community’s men. In Pokot Central, like many other parts of Kenya and Africa, it is clear that men head the family.
“Our husbands were not impressed with the project at the beginning, but as we started getting vegetables from the garden, the resistance began to melt away,” said Ms Grace Chepkemoi.
When the melons began to flower, the men’s warning was enough to keep the women away from the garden. To keep the project going, the women resorted to hiring some men to water the garden and tend the melons.
“We had a hard time in ensuring the garden was tended in our absence because of invasion by livestock. It was at that time we decided to use my patch as test case on whether the melons would rot according to the cultural belief,” she said.
To the women’s delight, the Sukari 4 variety of melon seeds on Jane’s kitchen garden defied tradition to survive in the nursery, before growing into large, luscious fruits.
Mr Odhiambo says the organization is aware of the society as patriarchal, but adds that it has not been an immovable obstacle to progress.
“We had to involve the men in our programs to establish accountability and ensure that they were part of the process of deciding on whether to adopt the new project,” he said.
Encouraged by the impressive harvest that was the result of their tenacity and resilience, the women sold the watermelon crop for Sh67,000.
The group is awaiting the next crop, having learnt the invaluable lessons from their first gardening business.
“A positive change is visible in our lives. We no longer sponge on our men for cash for every need around the home,” Chepkemoi says.
Mr Isaac Loitangiro, who is Jane’s husband, attributes the violence that accompanies cattle rustling in the region to poverty, and partly to the pressure on the men to provide for families.
He admits having had doubts about the kitchen garden project when it begun, but is convinced of its positive impact on his family’s life.
Having seen and tasted the success of the project, Isaac is now convinced that that mixed farming is the way to go for other families in the region.
“The program has opened our minds to the benefits of mixed farming. My children are eating better, their health has improved,” he says.
Isaac is appealing to fellow men in the county to allow their wives to cultivate greens, saying it will not only enrich their diets, but also provide extra cash for the family.
Group member and teacher Eucabeth Korinyang agrees with ACF’s move to involve the men.
“We are glad we talked to our husbands before implementing the project because it cleared the way for the garden to become the success story it is today,” says Ms Korinyang.
Child health, hygiene and sanitation is yet another pillar of the program.
To keep track of their children’s nutrition, Ms Korinyang and other members of the group have been taught to use a tool known as Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) tape.
Ms. Monica Eregai, a nurse at the Isiolo Samburu Complex, examines Daniel as his mother Irene Lenayapa watches. Photo: Aggrey Omboki/WON.
“I use the MUAC tape to monitor my two children’s growth. It has taught me to know when I need to act to ensure that their diet is balanced for optimum growth,” says Ms Korinyang.
Red means there is danger, orange means there is reduced danger but the parent must take the child to the medical facility for medical advice. Green on the other hand means the child is healthy, adds Ms Korinyang.
Mr Benard Atiko, the Community Health Extension Worker covering Kokwositot and Lepei, says the program has changed the health outcomes for the parents and their children.
