30 Kenyan Farmers Envision Ideal Agricultural System
30 smallholder farmers from Kiambu, Meru, Machakos and Makueni counties today, set off from Thika on a 4-day resilience journey that will see them engage county leaders and Kenyans on the ideal agricultural system that they envision for Kenya and the continent. They will exhibit produce, share knowledge and share seeds to their counterparts. The farmers will make stops in Machakos, Makueni and Nairobi counties with a clear message ahead of World Food Day.
“We, as farmers and consumers from around Kenya, call upon the Government of Kenya and International aid donors to listen to our demands, to move away from conventional agriculture and support ecological farming. Conventional agriculture has failed us and will continue to do so as climate change worsens….” reads in part a demand letter written by Kenyan smallholder farmers to the local governments of Kenya and International Aid Donors in Kenya
The farmers say they have decided to support each other because they have not received sufficient support from authorities and donors. Instead a lot of support has gone into industrial agriculture – a fatally flawed agricultural model that places farmers in a cycle of debt as well as reliance on harmful and expensive chemicals and seeds.
Bioversity International/Y. Wachira