Benson Alakonya Keya
wepoga
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WESTERN PROVINCE ORGANIC GROWERS’ ALLIANCE (WEPOGA) OF KENYA.
The Western Province Organic Growers’ Alliance (WEPOGA) of Kenya was founded by local, smallholder farmers in 2002.
MISSION STATEMENT:-
"WEPOGA is committed to building sustainable farming communities through organic agriculture" Among other projects like microfinance for the women,school [AMANI ACADEMY},Youth groups,Helping the less fortunate in the community,Nutrional program for the community e.t.c
WE ARE: an alliance of smallholder farmers . WEPOGA is active in the Bungoma and Butere Mumias districts of Kenya's Western Province.
OUR VISION :- "Is to empower smallholder
farmers by reducing their dependence on expensive artificial inputs, while at the same time, raising their incomes by introducing them to alternative cash crops, markets and cooperative selling. By raising incomes through its capacity building programs, WEPOGA will help farming communities to reinvest in their social and economic development.
Established in 2002 by Benson Alakonya Keya, WEPOGA (Western Province Organic Growers' Alliance of Kenya) is a CBO (community based organisation) located in the Bungoma and Butere Mumias districts in the Western Province of Kenya, working towards creating a better future for the local farmers and their children through programmes of education and support. We aim to work within all sections of society from education and advice for farmers in organic and sustainable farming, HIV and AIDS awarness seminars, free check-up clinics and our recently established Amani Academy School, providing free education for some of the most deprived children within our area of operation.
OUR STRATEGY :-
Is to reduce the incidence of poverty among smallholder farmers in the Western Province by:-
·Reducing their dependence on expensive, artificial inputs such as chemical fertilisers and pesticides by introducing them to organic farming techniques such as composting, intercropping, crop rotation, double digging, integrated pest management and creating organic pesticides.
·Diversifying their production of cash crops with a greater earning potential than maize and sugar cane.
·Increasing their food security by encouraging them to establish kitchen gardens to supplement their family’s meals.
·Increasing their incomes by helping farmers gain access to the price premiums available for organic produce in other regions of Kenya and overseas.
·Establishing cooperative planting and harvesting agreements amongst WEPOGA members, so as to maintain a constant supply and therefore price for their produce.
·Expanding the market for organic produce in the Western Province of Kenya by networking with the major purchasers of agricultural products in the region, and by distributing promotional material outlining the health benefits of eating organic food.
·Reducing the health risks caused by the environmental pollution that results from the over use chemical fertilisers and pesticides.
.Sponsoring farmers to attend training courses at registered educational institutions so that they can further their knowledge and expertise of modern production techniques, marketing strategies and other important business skills.
·Encouraging farmers to reinvest the dividend they’ve gained from organic farming in their children’s higher education, and therefore, in the future social and economic development of their local community and the Western Province as a whole.
.Amani Academy the school for the needy children in wepoga land at Shibanze.
WOMEN IN THE COMMUNITY
We have also started some women’s groups since they are often a left out portion of the community due to gender imbalances governed by old traditions. Women are always left at home to take care of the reproductive work around the home while men go to work or try to get food. It is often very difficult for one man to provide for his family, not only because women must stay at home, but because a man may marry many wives. It becomes very difficult to support multiple wives with even more children. WEPOGA has taken the initiative to target these women, and family problems over all though women’s groups as well as men’s groups and youth groups.
With these groups we have been focusing on both social and technical issues including: organic farming, dairy farming, poultry farming, micro-enterprise and micro-finance. The aim of these programs is to empower village residents to be self-sustaining and reduce some of the extreme poverty in the area. We have been able to do this through generous donations received from friends around the world with the help of our volunteers, but there’s still more to be done!
WHY ORGANIC PRODUCTION IS BETTER FOR WESTERN PROVINCE FARMERS
1. Artificial methods are expensive. Pesticides and fertilisers cost farmers more than 3500 shillings per year. At the same time, reduced soil fertility as a result of the overuse of these fertilisers and monocropping has delivered farmers steadily declining yields, and shrinking incomes. The only solution is to switch to organic farming. Not only are natural methods much cheaper, they are more effective than artificial chemicals at returning nutrients to the soil. Organic farming involves utilising materials that are readily found around the home and farm: egg shells, animal droppings, local plants, and kitchen wastes.
2. Pesticides and fertilisers are dangerous for our health. Spraying chemicals on crops means that they remain on the food we eat, get carried on the air we breathe, and seep into the water we drink. They can cause miscarriage in pregnant women, brain damage in children, and even sickness in adults. Organic farming, through the production of food free from contamination by harmful chemicals, can greatly help reduce these health problems in the Western Province.
3. Artificial chemicals are harmful to the environment. Non-organic chemicals have a negative impact on plant and animal life, in addition to bleaching farmers’ soils of nutrients.4. The market for organic products is growing worldwide. Not only is demand increasing for organic fruits and vegetables overseas, but also here in Kenya.
While organic farming is relatively new to Western Kenya, organic production has been thriving in Central and Eastern Kenya for almost 20 years. As a result, the potential for ongoing income growth for organic farmers in the Western Province is almost limitless.
WHY FARMERS IN WESTERN PROVINCE NEED TO DIVERSIFY THEIR PRODUCTION:-
80 per cent of families in rural Kenya depend on farming for their welfare. The average farm size is less than three acres. An overwhelming proportion of farmers in the Western Province grow sugar cane as their only cash crop. As a result, there is a serious over supply of this product, driving down prices and family incomes. In recent years production has been falling, including a 9 per cent reduction in 2004, despite a marginal increase in the area committed to sugar cane (2 per cent extra in 2004). This decline illustrates the impact of monocropping in reducing soil fertility and how the extensive use of chemical fertilisers over the last three decades, to increase productivity per acre, have actually reduced levels of nutrients in the soil and led to declining yields. Sugarcane takes two years to mature and generally it yields a maximum of 50000 KSh per acre, the equivalent of $658 US, or $329 per year. In 2003, a new cane pricing procedure reduced the price paid to farmers from 2,015 Kenyan Shillings per ton to just 1,800 – a drop of almost ten per cent. In addition, the Kenyan Government has recently introduced a 7 per cent tax excise on all farmers producing sugar cane. As a result, sugar cane has become increasingly uneconomical for small farmers in the Western Province, and an over reliance on it has contributed to a decline in the standard of living among the families in farming communities in Western Province. Subsequently, the average per capita income in Western Province is the lowest of all Kenya’s provinces at just 11,191 Kenyan Shillings per year. In comparison, the average annual income in Nairobi is some 78,644 Kenyan Shillings per year.The only solution to this confluence of economic and environmental decline is to assist local farmers to diversify by switching to the organic production of a new set of cash crops. WEPOGA is slowly empowering local farmers with the knowledge that there are alternatives to selling sugar cane, including products such as hot peppers, sweet potatoes, Soya beans and sunflowers. Hot peppers, for example, can be harvested after only 3 months. The Horticultural Development Programme (HDP) of USAID has been working in Kenya for the past year to assist farmers in finding export markets, and currently guarantees 150 Kshs per kilogram of certified organic hot peppers for sale in Germany, Holland and Japan. Over the same period, therefore, a farmer producing an average of 300-400 kilograms of hot peppers per year on a three-acre plot can double his income, relative to that earned from sugar cane, to around 90,000-120,000 Kenyan shillings. WEPOGA also educates its members and farmers participating in workshops, about the importance of including a kitchen garden on their land. Food security and improved nutrition among the local population is an important goal of the organization. Crops such as cassava, millet, sukumawiki and black nightshade, beans and tomatoes provide a rich supplement to the diets of farming families.
ORGANIC FARMING IS SIMPLY NATURAL
Through its organic farming workshops and field schools, WEPOGA demonstrates the basic principles and techniques of natural farming. Organic fertiliser can be produced from composting a mixture of farm and household wastes: kitchen wastes, dry leaves, grass, maize stalks, soil, eggshells, animal droppings and kitchen ash.Organic pesticides are similarly made from items easily found around or on the farm: Sodom apples, bitter mung'ulie leaves, red onions, kitchen ash and hot peppers. Techniques such as intercropping—planting local plants such as the gravilia trees mixed in with your crops—can return nitrogen to the soil, while feeding your livestock as well. In addition, by alternating the crops grown on a given plot, soil can be made more productive and fertile without the use of chemicals.I n addition, by alternating the crops grown on a given plot – crop rotation - the diversity of plant matter can return nutrients to the soil, increasing its productivity. Integrated Pest Management is another important strategy for improving crop yield without relying on artificial farm inputs. Introducing natural predators such as praying mantises and ladybugs can help control pests, while birds and insects are diverted by planting Desmodium seeds – a locally found resource – in a neighboring area. Desmodium seed are also useful for controlling striga weed and for returning nitrogen to the soil. Paper bag scarecrows are also useful for scaring away potentially destructive birds: paper bags tied to trees or posts move when blown by the wind, creating the illusion that someone is guarding the fields. By double digging soil beds – removing and rotating two feet of soil, thereby breaking the clay pan and enabling crop roots to reach greater depths and more nutrients – farmers can improve their soil productivity and allow closer spacing of vegetables. By teaching farmers the techniques utilised successfully by so many previous generations and demonstrating some new ones, WEPOGA works to empower smallholder farmers from the Western Province of Kenya to improve the sustainability of their farms, their families and their communities.
WORKING WITH WEPOGA
WEPOGA travels across the Western Province conducting farmer workshops and field schools to educate interested communities about organic farming techniques.
We also provide marketing support for producers of organic cash crops, and assist with the supply of organic inputs and information.
Farmers who have participated in WEPOGA’s field schools and work shops are then encouraged to join with others from their local communities in organic farming cooperatives.
By farming cooperatively, inputs like animal manure for fertilizer and hot peppers for pesticides can be shared among the community.
Farmers are then invited to request follow up visits to their farms by WEPOGA’s educators for an additional consultation.
WEPOGA is also actively networking with organisations marketing and purchasing organic produce in Western Kenya and overseas, in an effort to increase farmer incomes.
Members of WEPOGA meet once every month to share information about organic farming, and to cooperatively plan their planting and harvesting seasons so as to reduce competition.
THE WEPOGA COMMUNITY
WEPOGA is looking for partners to help expand its education and marketing operations through the establishment of a permanent demonstration plots, a learning centre, office and storage facilities.
(Continuing below...)
Established in 2002 by Benson Alakonya Keya and Steven Akhunga, WEPOGA (Western Province Organic Growers' Alliance of Kenya) is a CBO (community based organisation) located in the Bungoma and Butere Mumias districts in the Western Province of Kenya, working towards creating a better future for the local farmers and their children through programmes of education and support. We aim to work within all sections of society from education and advice for farmers in organic and sustainable farming, HIV and AIDS awarness seminars, free check-up clinics and our recently established Tumaini Academy School, providing free education for some of the most deprived children within our area of operation.
Solutions for the farming community
The only solution to this economic and environmental decline is to assist local farmers to diversify by switching to the organic production of a new set of cash crops. Since 2005, with the help of Fred Sichangi and Joshua Manindano, WEPOGA has been running outreach programmes within the Bungoma and Butere Mumias districts, slowly empowering local farmers with the knowledge that there are alternatives to growing sugar cane and to chemical farming. To date, WEPOGA has 300 members all successfully practicing some level of organic farming.
At present we offer :
· Home-based care of HIV infected and affected people
· Development of high-income cash crops
· Micro-enterprise groups
· Provision of healthcare, nutritional food suppliment, education and
daycare centre at Tumaini academy for orphaned and vulnerable children
· Alternative income projects for those involved in brewing
illicit alcohol, as part of a broader campaign against alcoholism, and
· Gender equality programmes.
VOLUNTARY WORK OFFERED
-Rural business development specialists.
-Agriculturalists
-Teachers (primary and secondary) i
-Lay volunteers to help with administration and ancillary clinical work.
Placements are ideally for a minimum of three months (with two
weeks off mid-placement for independent travel in Kenya). However, we
will consider well qualified volunteers for periods as short as four
weeks.
As the project works year-round, volunteers are accepted at any time subject to space being available.
Placements are at the WEPOGA base in Bungoma or with community groups.
All volunteers work in the community. There is no language requirement
other than a need to be able to communicate in English. Accommodation
is in African-style houses, in rural areas is often more basic. Food
and accommodation is provided for a basic cost of $50 for food and $20
for accommodation(or the equivalent Kshs 4900) per week. Aprogram fee
of $350 and $400 for salaries ($750 or Kshs 52200)and it has to be paid
in by the volunteers on the arrival day.
Help is offered to obtain an appropriate visa and airport pick-up
is offered from either Kisumu,Eldoret or Nairobi airports, but costs
$200.00.
The costs with which we invite volunteers to assist are any of the following:
· Provision of old, serviceable equipment not currently needed at the volunteer?s school, hospital or place of work ETC
.Construction of new classrooms for older students
.Expanding the WEPOGA farm, which is currently too small to be
completely self sustaining. We want to be able to completely supply all
the food for the school children and have a better demonstration plot
for farmers.
.Fundraising for more projects that will make WEPOGA more self sustaining and not so dependent on donors.
.Eventually purchase a truck to transport animal feed, food, surplus
produce to sell (e.g. milk, eggs) and to assist other farmers in
delivering their produce to markets and assist them in marketing
organic produce.
.Purchase a school van that would carry children who must currently
walk a long distance to school everyday, by themselves. There is also a
river that is close to the school, some students, because they are very
young, cannot cross the river so must take a long walk around to cross
it.
.Fundraising for teachers’ salaries and other workers so we can
continue to staff the organization and school with competent, reliable
workers.
.Fundraise for more school supplies (e.g. more desks, chairs, books,
shelves, computers, printers a photocopier and a generator since we do
not have electricity).
.Establishment of the medical center, to treat the most vulnerable
children and families in the area. We do have a government run medical
clinic in the area but it is falling short of serving everyone in the
community.
We estimate that a volunteer needs about $350 per month to live
comfortably whilst working with us, including accommodation, food,
project assistance, and spending money. This excludes travel costs
beyond Western Kenya.
Initial expressions of interest should be addressed to Benson and should include the following information:
· Name, address, email address
· Age
· Type of work volunteer wants to do
· Qualifications to do that work
· Experience, if any, of Africa or of work in any other developing economy
· Length of time volunteer is available and when.
In case of teachers:
· How long have you taught?
· What is the largest class you have taught on a regular basis?
· What grades do you teach
· What subjects do you teach
If you have a strong religious belief it would be useful to know
what it is, as Western Kenya is a heavily church-going community, with
a significant Islamic minority.
Finally, remember Western Kenya is one of Sub-Saharan Africa?s
poorest regions. Infrastructure is very poor. The average rural family
earns under $3 per month. Consequently, be patient. Internet access is
patchy, at best. We?ll get back to you just as soon as we can, but it
likely will not be as quickly as you would like