Utooni Development / Our Work / Climate Smart Agriculture & Livelihood

Climate Smart Agriculture & Livelihood Project

The ultimate goal of the project was to improve food security and sustainable livelihoods for small holder farming households in Machakos and, Makueni counties.

The project was implemented in Makueni and Machakos counties, in six sub-locations which include, Utithini, Kiou, Muvau, Mumbuni and Kavingoni.The total participants were 2609 (2262 females & 347 male).

C.S.A & L.P PROJECT INCLUDED:

☑  Conservation Agriculture

☑  Promote drought tolerant crop varieties

☑  Integrated Pest Management

☑  Kitchen garden establishment

☑  Post-harvest management

☑  Agroforestry

☑  Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration

☑  Livestock Integration

☑  Village Saving and Loaning Association

☑  Soil and water conservation techniques

☑  Agriculture marketing

☑  Gender mainstreaming

☑  Farmer exchange visits

☑  Income Generating Activities project (Makinga brick making, hay bailing, Incubators for hatching chicks)

C.S.A & L.P ACHIEVEMENTS (AUGUST 2024)

☘ Conservation Agriculture (CA) with GAPs

2,422 participants (2,138 f, 284 m) practice at least two out of three CA principles

☘ Kitchen gardens

A total of 2,591 participants (2,250 f, 341 m) representing 1,917 male-headed and 674 female-headed households have kitchen gardens.

☘ Agroforestry

There are 659 trees nurseries across the project locations out of which 69 are owned by farmer groups.

☘ Poultry Management

2,092 participants (1,916 f, 176 m) representing 1,768 male-headed and 324 female-headed households rear chicken in their households. The average number is 12 birds per household and breeds mainly kept were indigenous (Kienyeji), improved Kienyeji, and Kenbro.

☘ Goat Management

A total of 1,735 participants (1,539 f, 196 m) across the project areas have rear goats with an average of 6 goats per household. The breeds that are mainly kept are local, cross (between Galla and local ones), and Galla.

☘ Fodder establishment and management

A total of 2,004 participants (1,811 f, 193 m) from 1,683 male-headed and 321 female-headed households harvest and store fodder in their fodder stores equivalent to 1,821,337 bales annually. This translates to approximately 21,856,044 kgs of fodder (a bale weighs approximately 12 kg). The main fodder types are Maasai love grass, African foxtail, guinea grass, and boma Rhodes.

☘ Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR)

There are 64 FMNR sites across the project areas; 54 owned and managed by 54 individuals (37 f, 17 m) and 10 by farmer groups. The total acreage under FMNR stands at approximately 185 acres.

☘ Village Saving and Loan Association (VSLA)

There are 73 active VSLA groups across the project areas with a total of 1,761 participants (1,594 f, 167 m) from 1,538 male-headed and 223 female-headed households. The remaining 16 farmer groups are doing table banking. The total revolving fund annually on average stands at kes 15,252,905 (C$ 160,861.69). Out of this amount, kes 13,337,700 (C$ 140,663.36) goes into loans while kes 1,915,205 (C$ 20,198.32) is kept in individual group boxes. The loans are mainly utilized in paying school fees, purchasing household consumables, buying farm inputs e.g., certified seeds, boosting small businesses (groceries and kiosks), purchasing household assets (goat and chicken), and medical expenses.

☘ Marketing and Aggregation

A total of 12 aggregation centers are operational. Each aggregation center has a secretary/record keeper, who takes and keeps records of members' names, quantities delivered by each member, variety of produce, how much has been sold, and balance in store.

Happy farmer

MEET OUR PARTNERS

Canadian Food Grains Bank (CFGB)

Our goal is a world without hunger.

We work toward this goal by: providing food in times of crisis for hungry people in the developing world; helping people grow more food to better feed themselves and their families; and providing nutritional support to malnourished people with a focus on pregnant and breastfeeding mothers and young children.

We also advocate for public policies that enable families and communities to better feed themselves, and look for ways to engage and educate Canadians about global hunger.

Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)

MCC is a global, nonprofit organization that strives to share God’s love and compassion for all through relief, development and peace.

As an Anabaptist organization, we strive to make peace a part of everything we do. When responding to disasters we work with local groups to distribute resources in ways that minimize conflict. In our development work we plan with community and church groups to make sure the projects meet their needs. And we advocate for policies that will lead to a more peaceful world.

GALLERY