Distributing Seed to Farmers in West Kenya

Seed Distribution on 24 October:

We have as of today managed to deliver 288Kgs of sunflower seed to the three FAA co-ordinators for sale to their respective farmers as requested. Kenya Seed sold to Farmers Own at Kshs.150/kg. Progress on the sales will be monitored on phone and more seed will be delivered promptly upon request by the co-ordinators. The rain patterns have been erratic and the farmers are a bit cautious on when to plant. Certain areas like Abdi's FAA-Lugari district received rains in September and some farmers bought seeds on their own and planted. We are yet to ascertain the actual numbers and acreages from the co-ordinator. In Bungoma, there is a general concern that the seeds have come in a bit late into the season but there are still good prospects since sales began immediately the seeds arrived.

Meet the Farmers and a Request

This is a picture of the Farmers and Government Officials at a meeting in Kakamega, Western Province, Kenya.
I f you are interested in helping one thing we need now is your old mobile phone, if you are changing you phone then please give your old one to Farmers Own, this will help us greatly with communication in the field.
Please contact me via the blog. Many thanks , Tony

Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute - TSBF

Just catching up with meetings, I had a good meeting with Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute - TSBF, here in Gigiri, Nairobi, last week on Monday.
This Institute is supported by Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical – CIAT and by Rockefeller
We had a good and positive meeting with Dr Jonas Chiana and Dr Omo Ohiokpehai who have a project to look at the potential of soyabeans in enhancing rural livelihoods and small industries is funded by Rockefeller. Their aims are to determine soyabean production potential, to determine markets, to evaluate competitiveness of soyabean
Of all the local organisations we have talked to this group are the most interested to co-operate, we have contacts and information that they need for their project. They need help with organic farming techniques, use of compost, links to farmers groups in Western province and links to markets, in return they can help with technical support, baseline surveys and soya processing techniques and equipment.

Laban, the Farmers Own Agricultural Officer

Laban
I need to tell you something about our agricultural officer Laban and what a great chap he is. Despite severe finger injuries after the crash he came with me to Western Province with Elli Janssen from the Dutch donor ICCO and he managed Elli’s difficult and probing questions with great honesty, confidence and style. Elli was very interested in women’s issues and was concerned about women’s representation on the self-help groups (SHGs) and farmers action associations (FAAs). In fact she was so impressed by his responses that she has asked Laban to go to a workshop in Nairobi in November to discuss gender issues.
Right now Laban is Farmers Own, without him we would be lost, as he is the one with the key contacts with the farmers and it is clear that the farmers trust him and believe in him. We need to recruit more staff like him but until we can we must rely on him.
One of my priorities is to make sure that he has the best attention for the finger injuries.
Initially Laban’s injuries were severe, he badly damaged 3 fingers of the right hand, one had a lot of soft tissue missing, one was broken and one had a lot of skin removed. The wounds should have been treated straight away at the Nyanza district hospital but in fact nothing was done until 23 hours after the accident and by this time infection had set in. This delay was because we had to buy the necessary wound dressings and iodine antiseptic solution required but we were all being treated as well. The next day during the doctors morning hospital round one of the doctors pointed at the x-ray slide and said his broken finger should be cut off. Fortunately later a Masaai houseman decided that the finger could be saved and he did a good job of stretching it and fitting it back together. Later we all thanked this guy greatly for saving Laban’s finger.
Once admitted to Nyanza district hospital it was very difficult to get him out but when we did I took him straight to Aga Kahn hospital, Kisumu, for a check up where they were able to bandage him properly. When we got to Nairobi I took him to the Aga Kahn hospital here where he was a last able to get the proper splint. After recent visits to the hospital last weekend, on Monday and finally yesterday (Friday 7th) I am glad to say that the break has healed and the other wounds are healing well.

Meeting the Farmers with Elli Janssen from ICCO

Meeting the Farmers with Elli Janssen from ICCO
We meet the Provincial Government
Initially we met Leonard Ochieng a new deputy Provincial Director of Agriculture (PDA) in Western Province. He emphasised that we need to get approval for the scheme from the Provincial and District Agricultural Boards, we have to justify the following aspects to these committees, markets, sustainability aspects, effect on people and environmental risk assessment.
We also met the Provincial Commissioner (PC) and his deputy, they gave us the following information, there are 3 million people in Western Province and the economy is entirely agricultural, growing maize, beans, sugar cane and bananas, they also have fish from Lake Victoria. The PC emphasised the sustainability dimension, can the project continue if donor funding is withdrawn and he emphasised the need for project identity with the local people. He also made the point made previously when Jim visited, what can Farmers Own do to keep trading when donor funds are low.
Meeting the Farmers
Willi Wachilonge, Chepkwabi, Bungoma
Later we meet the farmers in Bungoma, we go to Kililili to meet Willi Wachilonge and his Farmers Action Association (FAA) with a leader and 2 assistant leaders together with leaders from 15 self help groups (SHGs) representing about 400 farmers; quite a number of the leaders are women. We are welcomed by Willi and Stanley Kibasa, the local chief. As we arrive so do the rains, a large black cloud covers the area and suddenly the rains that they have been waiting for arrive big time. The drops descend with a deafening noise on the roof of the church where we are meeting, we have to stop the meeting because of the noise but our hosts are really happy because they say that it is good when visitors arrive and bring rain.
We ask what do they really need now and the answer is provision of sunflower seed to the SHGs right now. The farmers cannot get the right seed at the point of use without the help of Farmers Own (FO). The other big problem is lack of market; once the seed is grown they need FO to move the product to market.
We discuss the advantages of Farmers Own
A key point is that when growing only maize and beans then as they say the stomach is full but the pocket is empty. These crops produce food and not cash, so they need to grow cash crops to provide money to clothe their children, send children to school, rent land, build houses buy animals, buy medicines and the other essential requirements which only money can bring.
Other advantages are food security and increased nutrition as some of the cash crop is retained for use in the community. Other plus points are; the provincial government is involved, FO gives training, FO provide contracts and FO provides seed at point of use and supervises planting. An indicator is that once groups become established then other groups want to join because FO is trusted in the area.
Talking to the women they are keen to use the money to increase the size of the business by renting more land or expanding into group projects to make bricks, build a shop, sell clothes, making clothes etc, so there is a real vision within the groups.
Issues and problems
We discussed the issue of other buyers in the market, this happened in 2004 and can cause confusion, but an important point came out that the farmers recognised that these operators had poor weighing scales, when tested a 50 kg sack weighed 38kg on their scales, so they are reluctant to use these middlemen. The FO weigh scales are properly calibrated and have a government certificate.
Group needs
The following are further needs; more training, training workshops, help with FAA organisation matters, easier access to FO agricultural staff to solve problems, request for FO to have a local office in Bungoma.
The groups need help with the banks, particularly opening and managing bank accounts and the problem of bank charges when the amount of money gets low; they would like bank loans to help buy equipment.
Abdi’s Group in Vuyika, Lugari
We meet Anna, Beatrice, Patrick, Ibrahim, Roland, Albert, Roger, Abraham, Phillip and Abdi, all leaders of SHG’s in the FAA. Again their main immediate need this year is sunflower seed for farmers. They are a very go ahead group wanting to raise money and buy equipment for the group. They are keen on more training seminars on organic marking techniques. They are very much looking forward to moving into passion, pineapple and avocado. This group is a leading group and their ideas and activities act as a catalyst for others. For example they are keen to start to cultivate their own seed instead of buying from the seed company. They have bought a hand press for sunflower oil and they would like 2 more presses. They now have electrical power so they may be able to get a power press in future.
This group have trust in FO, they would like FO to have a local office. They emphasised the benefits of growing soya and its use to improve nutrition for children and for AIDS victims and thanked FO for introducing them to this crop.
One issue in 2004 at the time of harvesting BIDCO the sunflower processor in Nakuru came into the market offering farmers more money per kilo, this caused a lot of confusion, but in fact they never came to collect so the farmers don’t trust them, but in future FO needs to negotiate with BIDCO to try to avoid this confusion.
Paul Mlulu’s Group in Mbakalu, Bungoma
This is a very poor area, the children have very poor clothes, and the FAA members themselves are not well clothed. Again the key need now is sunflower seed for farmers at point of use. In this area transport is a problem and it will help if FO can allow cycles to be used to deliver seed. We discussed the problem of middlemen trying to buy crop and the confusion this can bring, but the key point about the weighing machine was well understood and again we saw the trust that FO has built up. The Group are looking forward to growing sunflower, soya and groundnuts. Issues include the problem of a local FO office for training, advice and support. There are a lot of farmers in this area; FO can grow rapidly here in future.

The Journey to Kakamega Tuesday 4 October

The Journey to Kakamega Tuesday 4 October
After the horrendous experience with the Awasi to Kisumu road we flew from Nairobi to Kisumo on the morning Kenyan Air flight which was delayed 2 hours because one of the crew was sick. Just as we descended into Kisumo there was a violent bump as the plane flew through some different air, I turned to Laban and said wryly that we had just flown over Awasi !!
We hired a Toyota taxi with a driver called Eliga to take us to Kakamega. As usual he first drove into the petrol station to take on fuel but only just enough for the journey, if you look at the petrol gauge it is usually hovering just above empty. On the way the taxi suddenly started to hiccup and stopped, the driver started cursing the guys who had put in the fuel saying that they had swindled him by not putting in enough, then he got some passers by to push the car to a petrol pump which was fortunately nearby. We set off but then the same thing soon happened again, fortunately we were able to coast downhill to some fundis who set about dismantling the fuel line. The line has a filter, which turned out to be completely blocked; also the air filter was badly blocked so both were cleared by the fundis. It seemed that the taxi driver who did own the vehicle had not carried out any maintenance since he got the car, in fact the leader of the maintenance team gave Eliga a talking to about maintenance. Maintenance has always been a big problem here, there is no word for it in Swahili, traditionally if something breaks (the house falls down) then they just build another one.
Finally we arrived in Kakamega; it felt like we had climbed a big mountain to get here after the adventures of the previous week.
An other notable event happened to us during our stay, a thief came into the Golf hotel at 5 in the morning, he came into my room but I was awake because of the muscular pain from the crash so he quickly went out but someone called the police and he was caught, he had taken something from another room. There was a conference involving government officials and I spoke to several and we talked about the security situation in the country and why it is bad compared with Tanzania and Uganda. In Dar the Indian women wear their jewellery in the street, you will never see that in Nairobi. It seems that during the Moi era the police were not paid so they had to resort to crime to live. Now things have improved but it takes time, the Government have initiated professional training for policemen to try to have a more professional force as they have in Uganda. I met quite a number of policemen after the accident, including Boru who was such a help to us in Kisumu, the ones I met were very helpful and professional, but their salaries are not high, take home pay is about $ 100 per month for a police officer. They asked me if I could help them get funding for professional courses to help to increase their salaries, a course for becoming a CID officer costs about $1000.
One of the government officials told me how he had been carjacked earlier this year, he had been locked in his boot, driven to a remote location, they took his shoes and told him to get out, then they drove off and left him.
I should mention something about our return journey. On the last day of our trip to see the farmers we met Paul Mlulu and his Groups. We met him at the roadside and he put his bike in the back of the pickup and jumped in himself. We turned off the tarmac road into a series of murrum roads, I asked Paul how far is it, 5 km he says, one and a half hours later we are still driving on some quite bad roads with some deep ravines and holes. Eventually we get there, Paul says sorry but a bridge is broken so we had to go a long way round. I am worried that we may miss the flight back if we have to take so long to return. In the end it was OK, after the meeting Paul took us another way and we were able to arrive in Kakamega at 4.30 to meet Eliga our famous taxi man who assured us that he had maintained his vehicle as instructed by the fundi, we had no trouble in reaching Kisumu airport by 5.30 that afternoon.

Hard Work Brings Success

3 good days with Elli from ICCO a funding agency from the Netherlands, we visit the farmers and she hears their wishes and we are rewarded with enough funding to keep us going this year. We are all very relieved. More details over the weekend.

Hospital Days

Saturday 1st Oct
A hospital day for Laban to put a correct splint on the brolen finger

Monday 3 Oct
Another hospital day for Laban as they start to deal with the other fingure which has lost a lot of tissue

Tuesday 3rd Oct
We go to meet Elly from ICCO, more on that when we get back on Friday

I meet the Police Vehicle Inspector

I meet the Police Vehicle Inspector
On Wednesday 28 Sept I met the Police Vehicle Inspector who inspected the land-rover for the police investigation. He confirmed that the front drivers side wheel had come off and caused the accident. The land-rover wheel is made of two pressed steel pieces, the central one is shaped like a soup bowl with a flat bottom, the flat bottom fits to the hub with the usual 5 studs, while the edges of this bowl fit to the outer rim pressing and is secured by large rivets. These rivets are on the inside of the wheel when mounted so cannot be seen. In our case the rivets must have come loose to cause the wheel to come off. When the wheel came off the prop-shaft dropped to hit the road and the impact caused the rear wheel mountings to shear and the whole drive train came off. On the return journey we saw the remains of the land-rover in the police compound at Awasi, one very battered body with separate wheels lying in front, the faulty front wheel is in the back of the land-rover.
Amazingly this is directly opposite the place where Patrick and the Awasi fundis are based (see previous post). They came to see us to commiserate and offer any assistance. The remains are quite safe in the police compound especially with our fundi friends on hand.
I have a copy of the police vehicle investigation report and a copy of the police abstract of the accident both of which we need for the insurance company.

Nyanza District Hospital, Kisumu

Nyanza District Hospital, Kisumu
The hospital was built in 1968 by the Russians, at that time Oginga Odinga, the then MP from Kisumu had good relations with Russia. There has been no maintenance since, on arrival the first impression is scruffy guards, bent gates, remains of fencing, unkempt grounds and a blotchy 3 story concrete building sorely needing painting.
On arrival the first problem is to get Guyo out of the ambulance and into the hospital arrivals area through a door which seems to me to be too small. Priscilla goes off to see if she can find a wheel chair, it is amazing we have to do everything ourselves to get the patients into the waiting area. Very fortunately for us Bori, Guyo’s brother arrives, he is a policeman in the Kisumu area and on hearing of the accident he came straight to the hospital. After some time we are all assessed with the result that Laban, Guyo and Asha are admitted, during this process the shock hits me and I lie down on the dirty dusty floor of the reception area to avoid passing out, This has quite a dramatic effect as all the locals come crowding round to see this mzungu lying on the floor. While lying there I notice that the plastic floor tiles originally fitted seem to have largely disappeared with just remnants round the edges. Fortunately I am conscious enough to be able to hand out the various payments required for the admission and diagnosis process to continue. I say goodbye to Farther Peter and Priscilla and give them a donation for their little hospital. They drop Bori and myself at the new DAL Hotel which turns out to be owned by a neighbour of Guyo and Bori who comes from Marsabit and is called Godana, he was also a police officer, a senior one before retiring. Godana immediately insists on taking me to the Aga Khan for a check up, fortunately I am OK just bruised and sore, they give me anti-inflammatory drugs to combat the bruising.
The next day, Monday 26th, I sleep all day.
The next day I feel much better and help Bori running around looking after our patients. Bori is a great guy; I speak to his chief officer who gives permission for him to help us for the rest of the week, a fine gesture, as we really need him. It is African culture that when someone is in hospital a family member will come to help out, in the case of Nyanza District hospital this is essential. We have to do everything for them, fetch food and drink, fetch drugs, get special items like splints and the neck collar for Asha, and pay the bills. Bori and I go to the hospital dispensary to get prescribed drugs, this is a large building in the hospital grounds with several staff, we go through the list of drugs, they have none of them, only paracetamol which they give us with a resigned look and an apology. All the drugs have to come from town, without us our patients would get nothing.
The most disturbing image I have of this place is the sight of Laban’s terrified eyes one morning when he tells me about the night he has just experienced. As he is in a lot of pain he cannot sleep so he is the night watch man to make sure nothing gets stolen otherwise everything will go, phones, food, drink, clothes and hospital equipment. In the toilets the pipes tanks and fittings have all been stripped leaving urine and faeces to overflow into the corridor. In the night they come to fetch the dead with a trolley with creaking wheels, that night it came to their ward 3 times, each time Laban thought it was for him.

Drama on the Road to Kisumu

Drama on the road to Kisumu on Sunday 25 September
The next series of posts will describe several harrowing days involving our very serious road accident and the aftermath. I am recalling a series of mainly horrifying experiences. The characters in this series of narratives are four, Laban, the Farmers Own Agricultural Officer, Guyo, a farmer from Marsabit in northern Kenya, who was accompanying us to see the work of Farmers Own, Asha his sister, a business women who wanted to see if she could develop some trade links for her business, and myself wanting to arrange the details of a programme for the visit of a Dutch NGO interested in collaboration .
There are 3 major killers in Kenya, Malaria, AIDS and road accidents, in fact Kenya is the second worst country in the world for accidents, a combination of terrible roads, poor maintenance and appalling driving.
We had just reached Awasi about 45 km from Kisumu and stopped to greet Patrick and the team of fundis (Swahili for tradesmen) who repaired our pickup which had suddenly and potentially violently broke down here in July when the steering link to the front offside wheel broke, fortunately there was no traffic around and we were not injured. I will describe this incident in another post.
We had just set off from Awasi at around 3 in the afternoon, bouncing along the straight but terribly bumpy road at about 80 kph trying to even out the bumps when suddenly Laban who was driving could no longer control the vehicle, we veered off to the right, there were a series of terrible jolts, then we just caught another car in the rear before plunging down the embankment. We rolled twice and ended up in the sugar cane plantation. I was last out of the vehicle as my arm was jammed through a broken window and it took me a while to free it. There seemed to be pieces of land-rover everywhere but amazingly we were all alive. Suddenly a passing matatu (ubiquitous Nissan minibus) stopped and we were surrounded by people, the matatu driver and conductor, quickly and helpfully organised our injured team into their vehicle and drove us back to the Catholic Church in Awasi where there is a first aid centre staffed by Priscilla the nurse. The team were in bad shape, Laban was clutching his bleeding and squashed fingers on his right hand, Guyo was lying on a bed complaining loudly about his back and Asha was quietly complaining about her neck. I seemed to be OK, there was blood but then I realised it was Laban’s not mine, I could feel some bruises legs and back but nothing more. Priscilla quickly organised pain relief injections and I did my best to reassure the team particularly Guyo who talked as though he has seriously injured his back. Later Father Peter, the Catholic Pastor drove us to Nyanza District Hospital, Kisumu, in their ambulance with Priscilla attending. We stopped at the scene of the crash to pick up the bags, fortunately someone had looked after them for us, but were shocked to see the wreckage, the rear wheels completely torn off and one front wheel missing, how we survived I don’t know.