I spent this morning with Hellen Odira Omingo, a DIG farmer participating in our Producer Group Program in North Kamagambo, Kenya. Hellen is a widow blessed with 4 children and a beautiful spirit.
She was trained by DIG last year in our Farmer Field School program and selected to join the Todnal Producer Group. DIG launched the Producer Group Program several months ago as a pilot program to help small-holder farmers shift their perspective from subsitence farming alone to farming as a business. DIG worked with Hellen and her group on selecting crops for market enterprise and strategies to meet supply and demand along with saving and business planning.
Hellen selected the local kale or skuma wiki as her crop for market. Her research showed that these kales were the most consumed vegetable by the community as well as in certain schools. Using organic gardening techniques taught by DIG she planted a quarter acre of kale on her small farm. She proceeded to secure a market for her harvest at Kameji secondary school where her daughter is a student.
Hellen got a contract to supply 100kgs or 220lbs of kales every Tuesday to the school. She is paid roughly 8000 Kenyan Shillings or $100 USD every month for her harvest which Hellen either reinvests in her daughter’s education or takes home for other investments.
Hellen has expressed that she would like to expand her garden so she is sure to remain consistent and even expand in her supply to the school. She hopes to invest in an affordable irrigation system which she would connect to the Riana river that passes just 40ft away allowing her to grow at this scale even during the dry season.
Written by Olivia Nyaidho, DIG’s Program Manager in Kenya
