PROJECT #271
Project #271 | Helping Kenyan Farmers Fight the Food Crisis
Our Partnership with The Adventure Project
As of 2022 there were over 80 million people estimated to be food insecure across East Africa. Chronic causes of regional food insecurity like conflict and land degradation have been exacerbated in recent years by climate change and the COVID pandemic. The Russian invasion of Ukraine further limited wheat exports to East Africa, and four consecutive failed rainy seasons led to the worst famine in 40 years. In Kenya, where 70% of people work as rural farmers, and 95% of these lack irrigation, there is an urgent need for interventions that can quickly boost regional food supplies.
One Day’s Wages partnered with The Adventure Project so that Kenyan farmers experiencing dire food shortages were able to purchase low-cost Kickstart Starter Pumps. These pumps are proven to increase farmers’ crop yields by an estimated 400%! Through our partnership, 160 smallholder farmers gained the needed infrastructure to launch successful agriculture enterprises. The irrigated crops they are now producing have increased access to critically needed food for the broader community, with each farmer providing food for an estimated 70 neighbors!
Our Collective Impact
Farmers Gained Access to Irrigation by Purchasing Starter Pumps
Small Farm Enterprises Launched to Expand Food Production
Additional Neighbors Fed by Each Farmer With a Starter Pump
Meet Rosemary
When Rosemary’s husband passed away in 2017, she found herself facing an uncertain future with the responsibility of raising five children. With a three-quarter acre of land as her remaining asset, she turned to farming as a means of survival. She faithfully lugged buckets of water to irrigate her maize, spinach and kale, and the demand for her products skyrocketed. But with climate change and multiple failed rainy seasons, Rosemary’s livelihood was in jeopardy.
When Rosemary learned about the Starter Pump through her women’s group, she was astounded by its affordability and accessibility. She sold a goat, and made the purchase. Now able to continue cultivating vegetables even during the dry season, Rosemary’s yields of kale and spinach expanded. She added 15 chickens to her farm and, by feeding the chickens surplus vegetables, is now able to sell a crate of eggs each week.
Rosemary proudly shares her accomplishments with a smile:
“The pump has made me a manager. I now manage so many things on my farm: my chicken, my vegetable farm and very soon I will be selling fish.”
One pump transformed Rosemary’s life. She can now support her children’s education and plan for her family’s future. She plans to send her children to college, and inspire other women in her village to take similar leaps of faith.
Thank you for making this possible!
Our movement is grassroots, to us that not only means the work on the ground is led by local leaders with the support of the community, but it also means that we raise the funds for our projects through everyday donors just like you. In addition to all the donors that gave $25, $100, or $250 and the campaigners that ran a race or donated their birthday to raise funds, we also want to thank our generous business, school, and faith sponsors who believed in our work and joined the movement.
If you want to support future projects like this you can make a donation to our global hunger fund.
One Day's Wages is a grassroots movement of people, stories, and actions to alleviate extreme global poverty
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