Long-Term Food Security for 4000 Samburus in Kenya

For the past few months here at Sadhana Forest Kenya, we've been working on a transformative project at a local nursery school.  This school, serving over 100 children aged 4-6 in a severely impoverished area, faces significant challenges, including limited resources and low rates of higher education, especially for girls. However, the school's access to a large, fenced plot and a community solar-powered borehole with good access to water, provided a unique opportunity for a substantial planting initiative.  The timing of this January project coincided with back-to-back visits from two large volunteer groups.  With the help of these wonderful Greek volunteers, we fenced off a protected garden area, constructed catchment ponds for water management, and installed shade cloths for a raised-bed seedling nursery, and planted the more sensitive tree species.  We planted a variety of crops, including kale, Swiss chard, beans, papaya, banana, avocado, and Moringa stenopetala.  We also planted kei apple (Dovyalis caffra) densely along the fenceline, where it will grow into a “live fence” and bear delicious fruits.

The goal is to provide the school with a sustainable food source to supplement meals provided by the school, which are often insufficient in quantity and nutritionally lacking.  These meals typically consist of rice, beans, and maize and, although for many students the school lunch is their only meal of the day, there is often not enough food to feed all the children.  Moringa leaves, in particular, will add essential nutrients the children crucially need in order to grow and thrive, like Protein, Minerals (Iron, Calcium, Zinc, Magnesium, and Potassium), Vitamins (A, C, B6, and B12), and Antioxidants (Flavonoids and Polyphenols).  Since these volunteer groups left at the end of January, we’ve continued adding trees and checking in with the school.  The children's enthusiastic participation in watering and caring for the garden has been truly inspiring, and the project is showing very promising results.

Thank you to all of our donors, volunteers, and GlobalGiving.  If you would like to provide feedback, learn more about our projects, or volunteer with us, please email kenya@sadhanaforest.org.  You can also leave a note at the end of this report.

Ashe Oleng! ("Thank you very much!" in Kisamburu)