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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
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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.
8/8/2019 Kenya Report Web
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Growing Hope Growing H
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
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Growing Hope Growing H
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.
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Growing Hope Growing H
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
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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.
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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.
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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