Kenya Report Web

8/8/2019 Kenya Report Web

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The Global EnvironmentalManagement EducationCenter is helping HIV/AIDSpatients in Kenya create small-garden systems to lead healthierlives. The program could become

a model for other nations.

Growing

Hope



Growing Hope Growing H

mall gardens are making a big dierence in people’s health in Kenya. Through an initiative of the

Global Environmental Management Education Center (GEM), residents are learning how to create and

nurture small plots to provide fresh, nutritious food for themselves and their families.

In Kenya, a country ravaged by HIV/AIDS, these tiny gardens can make a dramatic improvement in qual

ity of life. HIV/AIDS antiretroviral therapy is less eective for patients who also suer from malnutrition

and lack safe drinking water and sanitation. Nutritious food is a key to hope.

GEM is a center within the College of Natural Resources at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Founded in 2000, its aim to foster sustainability through international programming and leadership de-

velopment.

In 2003 the Marquee University College of Nursing asked GEM to assess the feasibility of training

citizens of Kenya in small-garden systems to enhance aordable access to sustainable food for HIV/AIDS

intervention. This resulted in a project by GEM to augment nutrition of impoverished HIV/AIDS families

in Kenya through training in small-garden systems (SGS), rather than continued reliance on unsustainabl

food subsidies administered through clinics. In collaboration with Kenyan volunteer health care workers,

nurses, sustainable agriculture extension workers and interns, GEM sta and students developed a highly

successful training program resulting in more than 1,200 individuals trained and 747 small-garden sys -

tems installed “just outside the kitchen” by trainees and co-workers. The GEM approach proved to be a

model for low-cost, low-maintenance, high-nutrition gardening adaptable to any family or neighborhood

to help address immediate dietary needs of poor people everywhere—growing hope and health.

Printed on recycled paper.

No state tax revenue supported the printing of this document.

Growing hope

hotos by Mai Phillips/GEM

S

Mai Phillips, GEM Senior Scientistictor Phillips, GEM Directoron Tschida, GEM Communications Coordinator

A publication of the Global Environmental Management Education Center

A woman w

a newly pla

square-me

garden as o

trainees wa

The twine d

the garden

into equal

each plant

different spenhance p

disease res

obal Environmental Management Education Center, College of Natural Resources, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point,

0 Reserve St., Stevens Point, WI 54481. Phone: 715-346-4122. Fax: 715-346-4923. Website: gem.uwsp.edu

Funding for the GEM Small GardenSystems Project was provided by theU.S. Agency for International Development.




Homes in Mombasa range from substantial dwellings buil

ment block to huts like this one built of mud and sticks.

The GEM small-garden systems team compiled a number of

gardening methods that can be incorporated in the diverse

ving conditions of both urban and rural HIV/AIDS families, as

ell as those with or without gardening space.

Kitchen gardens,” “sack gardens,” “tire gardens,” “pot or

all container gardens,” “hanging gardens,” “conventional

ouble dug organic gardens,” “square foot gardens,” and other

ch small-plot production units are examples of small-garden

stems (SGS). These methods are low-cost and locally available

r the convenience of the smallholder or family. More than just

w methods of planning and planting a garden, small-garden

stems are a whole dierent psychological approach to garden-

g.

hese SGS can be adapted so that gardeners of all ages and lev-

s of experience can understand, tend, and harvest easily. The

stems are simple, yet versatile, and can be adapted to t all

nds of gardening situations. Whether a family needs to grow

l its own food, earn income with commercial production, or

st enough for a few salads each week, whether a person lives

one or has a large family, whether in the city or the country,

ith a lot of land or a lile, SGS principals are adaptable to meet

eds.

he gardens are located just outside the back door. This allows

ne to tend the garden easily during those brief breaks in daily

ores—caring for children, cooking, washing cloths, and house

eaning. There is no need to walk 10 minutes or more to the

rden. The SGS processes can be taught eciently—philoso -

hy and methods such as making compost, constructing the

ds, sacks, pots, and planting as hands-on learning—in a week

less for most people.

Small-garden systems GEM team, Kenya partners

met many challengesThe GEM assessment team that traveled to Kenya

in 2004 found many assets in place, and also many

challenges. Small-scale commercial agriculture as well as

family garden plots (shambas) and individual roadside or

alleyway plantings of fruit and vegetable crops are com-

mon in Kenya and contribute to food security and access to

food. Kenyan farmers are resourceful and knowledgeable

in producing a variety of culturally desirable foods—they

are competent farmers. Team members were impressed

with the organic farming methods in rural areas as well as

urban produce markets and kiosks, and in the ability and

enterprise of Kenyan farmers and cooperatives to provide

nourishing foods to their families and for income genera-

tion. While drought, poverty, limited access to nancing,and other obstacles contribute to the national challenge of

meeting food security needs of the public, Kenya’s agricul-

tural system is productive and progressive.

In Kenya, there is a strong, competent infrastructure of ag-

ricultural research and development capability through na-

tional, international and university institutions, adequate

formal and informal agricultural training, and excellent

agricultural extension/outreach especially through eec-

tive non-government organizations. Increasingly, organic

farming techniques are being adopted especially by small

land holders as aordable and eective.

With these resources in place, the GEM team was con-

vinced that through partnering with existing organiza-

tions in Kenya, a project to help augment daily nutrition of

impoverished families aected by HIV/AIDS aordably,

conveniently, and sustainably had excellent prospects for

success.

GEM decided to focus on three project areas: Mombasa,

Voi, and Nairobi (see map). Each location presented

its own challenges. Mombasa represented the greatest vari-ety of conditions for establishing small gardens, depending

on land tenure and available space. The Voi region is arid

and access to water is the primary challenge. In Nairobi,

the slums are among the worst in the region, densely

packed urban shanty towns with so lile land available

that installing even square-meter gardens proved challeng-

ing.

A woman sets transplants in

a square-meter garden divid-

ed into nine equal squares,

top. An old tire, center,

provides the container for a

small garden with healthy

plants thriving in compost.

A Ruai woman displays her

sack garden with kale grow-

ing prolically, bottom.

utritious food grown in tiny spaces

Continued on next page

GEM focused its efforts in Mombasa, Voi and Nairobi.

“Sasa sitagojea mvua Ili nipande mboga. Naweza kutu-

mia maji ya kuoshea vyombo kunyunyizia mboga yangu

Asante Kwa masomo.” (I do not have to wait for the

rains to plant my vegetables. I can use dish water

to grow my food. Thank you for the training)

—Peter Kuria, Mombasa




ombasa is a coastal city. The Mombasa Diocese consists

a number of parishes are working to deliver health care

suspected and identied HIV/AIDS patients. Health care

ovision through the Diocese uses a grassroots approach

aturing volunteer community health workers (wa-

uduma) living in these communities. The wahuduma are

entied by the small Christian community of which they

e a part. Each volunteer cares for approximately 25-30

atients regularly. The wahuduma provide information to

nd accompany counselors, social workers, and nurses to

atients’ homes. Many of these health care workers (coun-

lors and nurses) are nuns. Nurses, for example, see from

to 30 patients per day with one huduma, and one nurse

ill work with about ve or six wahuduma. Depending on

patient’s health, a nurse may administer to someone from

nce per week to about once per month. Many HIV/AIDS

atients suer secondary infections such as tuberculosis,

alaria, hepatitis and others.

The poverty existing within the communities is diverse.

One Mombasa huduma with whom the GEM team inter-

acted, Hannah, lives in a concrete block structure that her

family owns. They occupy three rooms and additionalrooms are rented to other people – at least one of whom is

a patient. Hanna’s family owns a small sundry shop (duka)

where they sell a variety of goods. She lives in a neighbor -

hood that is densely built with only narrow pathways

between buildings. The buildings house more than one

family or household, are primarily concrete walls and

oors with tin (mabati) roofs. Each apartment building has

an open-air courtyard where a water tap is located. People

use this space communally. Most courtyards have poed

plants set out in this area, although the plants are mostly

ornamental.

The quality of other housing in this area declined from all

concrete to concrete walls with dirt oors to homes built

of mud with wood and stick frames. Along the roadways

are piles of trash, stagnant pools of water, and weeds or

shade trees. In the poorest neighborhoods access to water

is a problem – there are no taps – but these households had

ample space and were growing food in fairly extensive

gardens. Many gardens featured maize (ugali, a staple

food), beans, papaya, kale and chard (sukuma wiki greens

commonly accompany ugali in a traditional Kenyan meal),

although planted haphazardly. In addition, many house-

holds in this area keep chickens, goats, or ducks, although

dietary protein is limited for most Kenyan families.

The challenges in Mombasa are multi-fold. In any particu-

lar slum neighborhood, land, water, and/or tenure may be

the greatest challenge and each calls for a dierent solu-

tion. In the neighborhood with largely concrete structures,

land or space is a severe constraint. In addition, given that

Continued next page

The key to the GEM small-garden systems is quality

compost that is readily made in the backyard. Be-

use these small gardens are grown in pure compost,

ey require very little maintenance and less water-

g than conventional gardens and aren’t dependent

local soil quality. All plant nutrients are provided in

undance so produce

ows vigorously and

n overcome many

seases, insects and

ought conditions.

ompost is a mix of or-

nic matter and ma-

re, maintained with

oper moisture and

rned frequently so it

eats up to over 140

egrees F to kill fun-s, insect eggs, and weed seeds. Compost also absorbs

ater like a sponge, thus requiring less watering than a

il garden, which is very important if water is scarce,

purchased, or needs to be hauled long distances. In

ct, use of grey water is encouraged, which is both

nvenient and effective. A high-quality compost mix

cludes dry matter (leaves, grass, husks), green matter

ld fruit, grass, leaves or plant matter), and manure

og, cattle, goat, chicken, rabbit, donkey), essentially

materials that are found in abundance in both the

untryside and cities.

Compost is key

A compost pile is covered with

mulch to retain moisture.

Challengesontinued from page 5

Challenges, continued

many people rent their living space, it is likely

that permission from (and payment to) a landlord

would be necessary to grow any sort of garden.

In the neighborhood with largely concrete/mud

structures, more land is available, but it is unlike-

ly the residents own the open space, or know who

owns the parcel, or how to obtain permission to

use it for gardening. In the neighborhood charac-

terized as peri-urban, land is in abundance, but

it is likely that all residents are squaers, which

may account for the more t emporary structures.

Voi is inland from Mombasa on the major

highway and rail line to Nairobi. The Voi

area is arid and has suered from repeated

droughts leading to chronic water shortages. Voi

town is fairly dense and the Tanzania-Bondeni

neighborhood, which close to Voi, is akin to the

densest part of Mombasa’s project areas.

The Voi project functions under the Sisters of St. Joseph

who are part of the Mombasa Diocese. As in Mombasa the

nurses and counselors identify and work with patients

through a network of community health workers. Many

patients receiving care of the health workers live outside of

Voi town. Unlike the cramped neighborhoods where access

to land is a major constraint, most people have enough land

to create at least one square-foot garden if not more to pro-

vide for each member of the household. However, outside

of Voi town proper, access to water is a severe constraint.

Local rivers are intermient.

During the dry season, people

dig into the riverbed to create

shallow ponds. The purchase

and delivery of water is costly

(about ve times more expen-

sive than buying water from a

tap in Mombasa). The primary challenge to gardening in the

Voi area is access to and availability of water.

Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, aracts hundreds of thou-

sands of displaced immigrants from rural areas whooen sele in urban slums. The Nairobi Eastern Deanery

AIDS Relief Program (EDARP), like the Mombasa Diocese,

has a number of parishes with which it works throughout

the severely impoverished east side of Nairobi. Health

workers operate out of Volunteer Counseling and Training

(VCT) clinic sites that are run largely by nuns. As in Mom-

basa and Voi, wahuduma provide local access to the nurses

and counselors to enter these communities and identify

people in need of health care. The slums served by EDARP

outreach are among the worst in the region. They house

thousands of people in very dense, unsanitary conSpace between housing structures may be only a fe

although there are areas where pathways become w

The housing quality is very poor; largely made of m

and whatever materials are available such as disca

steel drums hammered at for walls or roofs, or ca

box or used plastic pieces. Access to water and san

is very low to nil. Frequently, open sewers run dow

middle of the path or alley ways and sometimes du

rain events waste water inundates the hovels and r

shackle huts.

For small gardening,

presents the greatest

lenges and constrain

is no available land t

anything. The space

housing structures is

narrow, and the open

ers create problems with toxicity. The greatest chal

Nairobi’s slums is to identify creative gardening so

for an area with no land availability, which means

wall or rooop pots, or tiny fenced exclosures to p

goats and chickens.

As described, each project site - Mombasa, Voi, and

robi - presents its own set of challenges to organizi

implementing a small-garden system approach to

ing enhanced nutrition. Each site has a dierent cli

soil type, and local access to and availability of wat

land. In addition, each household had to be approa

and assessed to determine who was interested and

of planting and maintaining a garden system.

Small garden plots at Voi were constructed of stones, tires and other

containers available locally.

Two children eat beans, a primary source of protein.

“Ingewezekana ni kitu ya kufuzwa ulimwengu wote.”

(If it would be possible it is something nice to teach

the whole world.)

—Mary Otonde, Nairobi.




Above, a woman proudly shows her small gar-

den to other students. Right, trainees display

their graduation certicates in a group photo

with Mai Phillips, center. The GEM program

has trained 1,229 people in small-garden

systems.

Training begins with a class-

room session, lower left. Left,

a health care worker explains

how the garden plan works.

A man tends to plants in his

square-meter garden plot,

bottom.

Training and learning...

n classrooms and garden plots

Najiona mwenye bahati, nimesoma

kutegeneze shamba dogo.”

(I see myself lucky to have learned

about small gardens.)

—Mary Wanjiku, Nairobi



0 Growing Hope Growing Ho

Trainers, continued

Following the technical sessions, GEM sta and Kenya stu-

dent interns would take the participants outside to dem-

onstrate how to construct a plant nursery, square-meter

garden, and compost from locally available materials. The

trainees were actively involved in helping install these eld

demonstrations. Subsequently, each trainee was provided

plantlets or seed of a variety of food plants to establish in

their own personal gardens at home. GEM provided a gar-

den kit consisting of a shovel, trowels, watering can, and

other implements to each neighborhood for communal use.

GEM student interns, who lived in or visited each neigh-

borhood on a weekly basis throughout the project, help

troubleshoot and resolve agronomic problems encountered

by individual trainees in their home garden plots.

Participants were required to establish and maintain one

square-meter garden plot of their own, but most trainees

exceeded that benchmark. Commonly, they would installtwo or more plots to increase production and because of

the ease of doing so. GEM small garden systems trainees

who completed the two technical sessions and succeeded

in establishing and maintaining their own garden at home

were awarded a certicate of completion. For many partici-

pants, who were poor, ill of health, and illiterate, receiving

the certicate was a proud and joyful occasion. Of course,

the excellent fresh vegetables and money savings brought

smiles to their faces, too.

Nicholas Syano, right, GEM In-Country Coordinator, ex-

plains the square-meter garden system.

A health care worker,

or huduma, explains

the benets of small

garden systems such

as the square-metergarden shown at the

bottom of this photo.

Trainers met with enthusiasmG

EM specializes in outreach education to

local citizens and organizations seeking

stainable solutions to natural resource prob-

ms in their communities. For the GEM small

rden systems training in Kenya, wahaduma,

volunteer health care workers, living in

mpoverished communities of Nairobi, Mom-

sa and Voi helped recruit HIV/AIDS patients

participate in the GEM training program.

any of the wahuduma, and even nurses

sociated with the local health clinics, also

nrolled.

ypically, a group of 12-30 participants would

end a GEM training session at a time ar-

nged in a convenient place locally, such as anic or church, by the host wahuduma. They

ere motivated to participate by the promise

leaning an aordable, easy way to pro-

uce fresh, healthy foods at home to improve

utrition so antiretroviral drug therapy could

stain and improve their lives.

t the initial training session, GEM sta,

articularly Nicholas Syano, GEM In-Country

oordinator, invited participants to share what

nd of foods they were currently consuming

nd how much time and money they spent on

od. With this background, participants were

formed how they could improve their diets

nd save money by growing gardens at home.

struction was presented in two technical pro-

ams, delivered in Kiswahili for a lay audi-

ce. Participants completed one half-day ses-

on on small garden systems, which included

e selection, preparation, plant selection and

acement, maintenance, pest and disease

anagement, harvesting and re-planting, and

her horticultural techniques. In another ses-

on, they were taught how to produce high-

uality compost, the key factor for success.

Continued next page

Residents install a small-garden system during a training session at

Babadogo.

Nicholas Syano, right, and a trainee cover a nursery bed

mulch to preserve moisture.



Growing Hope Growing Ho

“Asante kwa mradi wenu,sikujua kama unaweza kupata mboga nyi

kutoka sehemu dogo na hasa mjini.” (Thank you for your projec

never knew I would get a lot of food from a small area, espec

in urban area.)

—Julius Gikonyo, N

Protein-rich Amaranthus thrives

in a square-meter garden.

The overall goal of the GEM SGS project was to provide

practical products and educational services to enhance

utrition and health by training HIV/AIDS families and

ealth care providers to install and manage small garden

stems to provide requisite nutrients to support medical

eatment in Kenya. In just nine months, GEM’s original

oal of 600 participants

ained in one year was

ceeded by more than

ouble (1,229), due in

rge part to the orga-

zational eorts and

eless dedication of In-Country Coordinator Nicholas

yano. High demand by HIV/AIDS patients and excep-

onal responsiveness by the GEM SGS team and associated

terns exceeded all expectations. Also, 747 square-meter

arden plots and sack or tire gardens were installed, and

ven Kenyan nationals gained professional development

nets and contributed greatly to the success of the project

rving as community organic gardening interns or sustain-

le agriculture coordinators. A low-cost, low-maintenance,

nvenient, ecient and successful “hands-on” method to

pplement nutrition of HIV/AIDS patients at the project

tes was accomplished in a short period of time.

In just nine months, GEM exceeded by

more than double its goal of training

600 participants.

“Sasa naweza kuifadhi pesa kwani sita nunua

mboga tena.” (I shall be able to save money

since I will no longer buy vegetables.)

—Teresia Ongito, Nairobi

The training included high quality compost making, small

garden construction with locally available and low-cost

materials, polyculture planting and low-input grey water-

ing and maintenance of locally available and nutritious

crops, and plant disease and insect recognition and control

using organic pesticide, herbicide and fertilizer practices.

A GEM Square-Meter Garden Train-

ing Manual was developed for clients.

Upon successful completion of training

modules on compost making, garden-

ing, and pest and disease management

as well as making a personal square meter garden, clients

were awarded a certicate of completion.

The project tremendously increased the ability of the

HIV/AIDS clients, mostly women, to grow nutritious food

at home using the GEM small garden systems and of the

local SGS interns who gained technical and extension edu-

cational experience to help their nation move toward food

security and a sustainable future. In fact, the participatory

GEM small-garden system approach proved so successful

and popular that it can serve as a grassroots model to help

local communities elsewhere in Kenya and beyond.

Project goals exceeded

Joyce, far right, an intern from the Kenya Institute of Organic Farming, poses wi

near a ourishing small garden. Interns trained more than 300 participants in s

garden systems.

Partnerships with established Kenyan

institutions contributed to the suc-

cess of the GEM small garden systems

project. The Sustainable Agriculture and

Community Development Programme

(SACDEP), Kenya Institute of Organic

Farming (KIOF), and Egerton Univer-

sity were among the partners. SACDEP

agreed to having SACDEP sta to help

train participating SGS trainees at their

facilities in Thika should the need arise.

KIOF and Egerton University contributed

Kenyan undergraduate interns.

In November 2005 Nicholas Syano, a for-

mer resident manager of KIOF, was hiredas the GEM Kenya In-Country Coordi-

nator to oversee SGS training activities.

Together, Nicholas and the GEM Team

recruited KIOF and Egerton students who

were in need of eld internship experi-

ences. Three KIOF interns, one Egerton

University intern, and one Kili Institute

of Agriculture intern worked and inter-

acted with the trainees in the three project

sites of Nairobi, Mombasa and Voi.

The interns trained a total of 304 clients in

the SGS methodology and helped partici-

pants install a total of 658 gardens in their

communities. Aer completion of this

project in August 2006, Nicholas Syano

also started his matriculation as a GEM

graduate student at UWSP in the fall

semester. His M.S. thesis, under the su-

pervision of GEM Director Victor Phillips,

addresses food and fuel-wood needs for

families aected by HIV/AIDS in impov-

erished communities of Kenya.

Partnerships strengthen progra

This on-the-ground work applies directly to the UN Millennium

Development Goals (information at: hp://www.un.org/millenni-

umgoals/). The GEM SGS training model advances six of the eight

Millennium Development Goals:

• Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Hunger and Poverty

Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education

• Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women

• Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality

• Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health

• Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases

• Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability

Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development

GEM project advances

United Nations goals

“Nigependa huu muradi huendelee-ni mzuri sana.”

(“I wish this project to continue—it is a nice project.”)

—Rose Otieno, Nairobi.

Cow peas ower in a square-meter garden.



Growing Hope Growing Ho

For more information, please contact:Dr. Mai Phillips, GEM Senior Scientistand Principal Investigator,GEM Small-Garden Systems

Email: [email protected] ofce telephone: 1-715-346-3786.

“Asante sana GEM, hii mradi utasaidia watu wengi

na asa wagonjwa wa Ukimwi.”

(Thank you GEM, this project will help many

people especially HIV/AIDS patients.)

—Jack Munene, Voi.EM small-garden system team leaders Victor and Mai Phillips pose at a

monstration garden in Denholm (Nairobi), Kenya.

Every meeting and

training session ends

with a song.

The GEM Small Garden Systems (SGS) project greatly exceeded its goal of training 600 Kenyans.

Demonstration small-garden systems established by GEM staff: 72

Total number of small-garden systems established: 747

Number of clients trained directly by GEM SGS team: 925

Number of clients trained by GEM Kenyan interns: 304

Wahuduma (health care workers) trained: 615

Total number of trainees completing all modules of SGS training: 1,229

Success... by the numbers

Back cover: Healthy children, happy children... gro



1 Growing Hope

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