By Lenah Bosibori
Makueni County, Kenya: In the hilly and dusty village of Kwamiui, Kilome sub-county in Makueni County, water scarcity is always a big challenge. But in this village lies a unique farm that is changing this region to a food production area where even pests are allowed to thrive.
Started in 2020 during Covid 19 period, ‘Feedback To The Future’ farm has been a source of water for good harvest and also a shelter and feeding point for pests.
Benedetta Kyengo the founder shares that the area was initially barren with only two types of grasses that could only grow during the rainy season and dry off during the drought season.
Here, despite the high cost of solar installation, Kyengo is happy to see all her crops thrive and bring fresh air to her farm. “Solar energy powers irrigation to our farm making it green in this region,” shares Kyengo
Kwamiui village, one of Kenya’s Arid and Semi-Arid regions, (ASAL), has been home to pests for the last four years, Kyengo adds that they help in completing the food chain system. The farm has also attracted researchers and farmers who have been receiving knowledge and skills to transform the entire County.
Thiong’o Gachie, a regenerative agriculture trainer at the farm, conquers with Kyengo in leaving the pests to live in their farm. According to Gachie, if the pests are sprayed in order to get rid of them, “Then it means that we will consume weak crops that are not healthy for human consumption” shares Gachie.
“We need to build our soil fertility so that it can grow healthy crops, healthy soil equals healthy crops” he asserts.
“In integrated pest management, there is a reason why you find pests in your farms, pests and diseases are a sign that your crops are not health, for us because our soil was depleted, finding pests is a natural way of showing that our soil fertility is still increasing,” shares
“For now, we are leaving them to be and we don’t interfere with the systems, our thinking is that pests attack weak crops, so if we let them be they will only attack weak crops, and the healthy crops will remain and survive and we will harvest the strong crops,” said Gachie.
Apart from the farm letting pests, it is also promoting traditional farming methods. “We make sure that we have different varieties of crops, we also make our own seedlings with our own manure, we later transplant them and wait for the final products,” he notes.
Thiong’o Gachie a regenerative agriculture trainer at the farm showcasing the solar panels they use that pump water from the borehole/Lenah Bosibori.
According to Gachie, the farm currently has more than 80 species of crops. “Here we promote diversity of different species and our diversity comes with stability,” notes Gachie.
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Further, the farm seated in a four-acre piece of land is practicing syntropic agroforestry, according to Kyengo, it is complexity and diversity, “We have complexity in terms of the trees with different layers and species, the vegetables, fruits, tomatoes, local and exotic, tubers and many diversities,” she adds
It emulates natural ecosystems to produce food while restoring the environment, it focuses on biodiversity, soil health, and sustainable resource management.
“This innovative approach has not only supported crop growth but also promoted a balanced ecosystem that is proving that nature and farming can coexist harmoniously,” shares Kyengo.
During our tour to the farm with a group of science journalists from Nairobi, I noticed a big difference, at ‘Feedback To The Future farm’, every crop is thriving while the neighbors who have already tilled their land, are eagerly and patiently waiting for the rains.
“We have 80 species, let’s say a few are infested by pests or if drought comes maybe 10 species are affected, we will still have 70 species that we depend on either for food or for commercial purposes.”
Just four years into this kind of farming, the venture has attracted more than 700 farmers who have been trained and supported on how to start their own farms. “We started in 2020 and so far, we have trained more than 700 farmers, we take them through our farms to see how we do it and then we empower and help them to start their own regenerative agriculture that is climate resilient,” shares Gachie.
After training the farmers, they also ensure that they have enough produce all year round in their farms. “We have some crop varieties that don’t require a lot of water, in case our water is not enough, these crops will continue to thrive and give farmers enough to consume, and in case of surplus, they can sell some,” shares Gachie.
The method has enabled the farm to adapt to climate change conditions as it does not till the land, which has helped the soil to retain carbon and the trees intercropped have been a pillar for carbon.
Benefits of syntropic agroforestry farming
“At all times the farmer is harvesting, we also promote a lot of soil health, even if you don’t have much water for irrigation, you will still harvest because cassava, sweet potatoes and indigenous vegetables don’t require much water,” adds Gachie.
In this area farmers are used to doing maize and beans and the production they get per acre is between three and five bags and these are season crops of around three to six months according to him. “The current system is promoting a lot of poverty and a lot of food insecurity so you find farmers hungry with no money.”
“In our system, we bring in food security, with diversity, and solve food insecurity with a guaranteed cash flow to farmers,” adds Gachie.
Nature taking its course
The land was degraded in the previous photos, shares Kyengo. “The soil was very acidic due to the use of fertilizers, through our locally available materials and continues mulching with the application of compost manure, now things are thriving.” “We add a lot of compost manure that brings back the organic matter in the nutrients, ashes to introduce alkalinity of the soil, and charcoal dust to conserve water.”
Miriam Wambua is a beneficiary of the training, she represents a group of farmers called Kasunguni Farmers Group, “Since I got the training, I have noticed a very big difference as a farmer in this dry village,” shares Wambua. “I am eating healthy food with no chemicals and this has improved my health and that of my family.”
Wambua further urges farmers to practice organic farming so that they can continue to eat healthy and get returns from selling the surplus. “We plant pumpkins, millet, cassava, and many traditional crops,” shares Wambua.
“We are helping in creating a permanent system that will not have to rely on water,” adds Kyengo. “We have a borehole and we have installed a solar system that is helping us to pump the water, the solar system is very efficient because it can pump water 600 meters away from the source, The solar system is a game changer for us because we also don’t pay electricity bills,” shares Kyengo.
“We went solar because there was no electricity in the area. From my background as an environmentalist, I always wanted to have renewable energy incorporated into our system of farming,” adds Kyengo.
Data from IRENA also indicates that Kenya’s solar energy production has been on the rise since 2014, as of 2022 it was 578 GWh. Renewable Energy Statistics 2024.
Challenges of practicing organic in a surrounding of conventional methods
Before drilling the borehole, Kyengo acknowledges that they faced a number of challenges in coming up with one. “We have the borehole far away from the crops which is also expensive in infrastructure, but this is because we initially had a problem while drilling, this place is not like places where you drill and get water immediately, here you need good geologists to tell where the water is,” reiterates Kyengo
She further notes that the current infrastructure is very good, “We have 15 solar panels, with the excess power we get from the solar, we plan to distribute the water to other farmers,” adds Kyengo.
As Feedback to the Future thrives in organic farming, neighboring farms that still practice conventional farming are becoming a threat. “Being 100 percent organic, we face difficulties when neighboring farms use conventional methods and spray chemicals to their farms, these toxins impact our crops and the insects we work hard to protect,” shares Kyengo.
Additionally, the rise in GMO seeds poses a threat to organic varieties; “Without proper storage, we risk losing our organic seeds altogether,” she adds.
