OTEPIC builds communities in Kenya's Rift Valley

Since its inception, OTEPIC has made great progress in helping groups of women and youth learn how to integrate proven permaculture practices. Over 2,000 participants from approximately 25 community groups have been trained in ecological farming practices for their farms and gardens. OTEPIC has also promoted numerous grassroots initiatives such as growing portable gardens, making charcoal briquettes and building solar food driers. OTEPIC advocates for humane animal treatment, educates about nutrition for HIV/AIDS, and organizes trash clean-up days.

OTEPIC Plants Trees for Life

OTEPIC organized a tree planting campaign and mobilized women and youths from several schools to plant native trees. Planting new indigenous trees and taking care of existing ones helped deepen the participants' commitment to protecting our environment.

Our Village Children Learn how we Grow our Gardens

Training Local Farmers and Growing Healthy Food in Kenya's Rift Valley

Improving Irrigation for our Gardens

We are finishing up a training course for the farmers and are now in the process of fundraising to drill a borehole to be used for irrigation. Please contact OTEPIC if you can help. Thank you for your support!

Teaching Good Permaculture Practices

When practical permaculture principles are explained to farmers, gardening is transformed from a task to a craft. Farmers say that this type of agriculture is not complicated. It is a straightforward way of raising more food to feed people while protecting the environment. Permaculture is simple, sound, equitable, low cost and a biological-based alternative. As more farmers adopt it, the sustainabliity of their farms increases because farmers are learning to test and to refine these alternatives.
Farmers are helping each other become revolution artists who grow food so that their communities can be whole and powerful again.
All of the farmers groups are being taught to consider these factors before they start gardening:
(a) How to choose a field
(b) How to build soil
(c) How to rotate crops
(d) When is the best time to plant
(e) What plants should populate the garden
(f) What are the best seed practices
(g) How to fertilize
(h) How to control weeds
(i) How to control insects
(j) What are the principles of harvesting

Practical / field work
Experiential learning helps farmers internalize technological knowledge. OTEPIC programs take the farmer trainees into the garden to apply the principles taught in the classroom.

We encourage farmers to use open pollinated seed and explain the advantages of using local varieties. We teach them how to select seeds.

Farmers set up their small gardens and make compost and, as a result, get more food to eat and share with neighbors. These small farms are where agricultural advances are nurtured and new ideas conceived by people solving nature's puzzles.

OTEPIC brings farmer groups together

OTEPIC brought farmer groups together to share their achievements and to learn from each other. They cooked their favorite traditional food to share with other groups that day. We talked about the importance of eating local healthy food from their own gardens.

We encouraged the formation of a seed exchange and also trained about indigenous and local open-pollinated seed that is drought- and pest-resistant.

CHRISTMAS WISHES FROM OTEPIC KENYA

Christmas is a time for love and fun,
A time to reshape souls and roots and skies,
A time to give your heart to everyone
Freely, like a rich and lavish sun,
Like a burning star to those whose lonely sighs
Show need of such a time for love and fun.
It's time to give your heart to every one

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR WISHES FROM KENYA

asante sana, rafiki,

Philip Munyasia (OTEPIC-Coordinator)

Teaching farmers about biointensive farming

Greeting from OTEPIC-Kenya!

We recently trained 83 farmers, sixty percent of whom were women, in growing foods using biointensive agriculture. We covered the basics, including:
Double digging to enhance root penetration and increase aerate soil
Composting, using locally available resources, to enhance soil fertility
Companion planting to reduce pests and diseases and attract beneficials.
Close plant spacing to conserve moisture, suppress weeds and in some instances, create a mini-climate
Use open-pollinated seeds adapted to local conditions and to preserve genetic diversity
Whole garden system that provides all of the inputs within one garden
Calorie efficient crops to select crops that provide a large amount of calories in limited space
Carbon efficient crops to produce components for making compost and thus, build soil

May rainbows stream endlessly through your heart,

Philip

Our Garden and our Work Grow Strong

The crops are growing well — the sorghum sprouted out and corn is growing fast in this rainy season. See our pictures of tree collards from one of the community gardens.

We are doing everything possible to change a world in need of change. Our success is shared by everyone in our communities! Let's continue making a contribution to the bio-intensive agriculture movement.

OTEPIC Trains Kenyan Village Farmers

Representatives from farmer's groups gathered for a training. They were given start-up vegetable seeds, and they had the opportunity to exchange seeds. These farmers will train others, thus spreading information about biointensive farming.

Gardening is about enjoying the smell of the plants growing in the soil, about getting dirty without feeling guilty and soaking up a bit of peace and serenity.

Have the best day of your life with rainbows streaming through your heart and your soul expressing itself in all you say and do.

Philip

How our Garden Grows . . . in Kenya

I hope you really enjoyed Earth Day! It's raining here, and the farmers are busy in their fields.

Our gardens are growing, and we had a work party to pull weeds. We are growing Irish potatoes that are large and drought resistant, beans, black nightshade, beets and leeks, drought-resistant cassava, and spinach. See our portable garden with onions and black nightshade. Did you know that young pumpkin leaves are edible?

The earth is a generous mother; she will provide in plentiful abundance food for all her children if its soil is cultivated in justice and in peace.

Jambo from OTEPIC in KENYA

We are planting and weeding crops in our demonstration plot. We are tending kale, sweet potatoes, black nightshade,and making more charcoal briquettes. Here is an inspiring message for you:

At times you feel you want to cry
And life seems such a trial
Above the clouds there's a bright blue sky
So make your tears a smile.

As you travel on life's way
With its many ups and downs
Remember its quite true to say
One smile is worth a dozen frowns.

Peace and joy,
Philip