Rakwaro Group
Hellen Atieno
Hellen is a dedicated conservation farmer who has long valued traditional methods of farming. Due to increased population, her family was allocated to a small plot of land for both residence and cultivation. They initially resorted to using chemical applications on their land with the intention to increase productivity. However, despite the use of these chemical inputs, the farm's productivity deteriorated over the years.
Hellen has enthusiastically experimented with implementing nature-based solutions on her farm in collaboration with eGro. She has introduced four different tree varieties and successfully implemented the first crop rotation system within eGro. The progress on her farm is consistent and she is committed to continuously improve its productivity through the eGro model.
Brenda Awuor Odhiambo
Brenda and her husband, Joshua, manage a small piece of land on a sloped hillside. Their farm poses one of the most significant challenges for eGro in restoring soil health and productivity. Before acquiring their land, it was used for commercial eucalyptus production. The remaining soil is a combination of rock and gravel in some areas and silt and gravel in others, making it difficult for anything to thrive.
Brenda and Joshua are a hardworking couple dedicated to finding solutions for building humus on their soil. After two seasons of composting and mulching with eGro they are starting to notice positive changes in their farm. We have helped them implement short-cycle nitrogen-fixing and biomass-building trees, providing a strong root base for crops and boosting nutrient cycles.
Sharon Odoyo
Sharon is a conventional farmer specializing in the cultivation of grains and vegetables for sale. She loves to learn innovative ideas that can make her farm more the profitable. Although initially skeptical about nature-based solutions for pest and disease management, she is open to experimenting with agroforestry techniques and composting in hopes of mitigating challenges during dry seasons when market prices tend to rise.
As she explores new approaches, Sharon is becoming increasingly enthusiastic, uncovering cost-effective methods for managing her farm.
Rodi Group
Tom Obiambo Anyango
Tom is an innovative farmer, passionate about sustainable agriculture, exploring cutting-edge farming methods to provide for and educate his children. He strategically cultivates off-season maize to capitalize from market dynamics, ensuring better profits during peak demand periods. Additionally, he successfully manages a fish farm, benefiting from government subsidies for smallholder fish farmers.
Through eGro's CSA Entrepreneurship program, Tom is expanding his profit avenues beyond maize. Having gained valuable insights from intercropping with trees, he emphasizes biodiversity and prioritizes soil health. Tom is actively working towards enhancing his farming system as he aims for resilience and profitability in both the short and long term.
Rose Atieno
Rose works full time on her family farm to provide food and to support her husband's income. Before joining eGro she had been accustomed to working with conventional farming systems that involve the use of chemical applications, but found them to be too expensive. This led to her leasing her farm to contract farmers who ultimately exacerbated the situation by further degrading the land with chemicals.
Introduced to eGro one year ago, Rose was encouraged during her training to reconsider traditional farming methods that have lower input costs and better productivity. She eventually allocated the least productive part of her farm to eGro. With guidance and available with resources, including peanut seeds and five varieties of nitrogen-fixing pioneer trees, she has begun to witness significant progress.
Seba Atieno
Seba is one of our model farmers who supports new eGro farmers by guiding their transition into sustainable agroforestry, using her system as a benchmark. As a single mother, she relies entirely on farming to provide for and educate her family. When local input prices become too expensive due to high demand from the conventional farmers dominant in Rodi, she supplements her income by taking on occasional casual labor jobs.
One of Seba's unique strengths lies in her ability to sort and preserve viable seeds. With additional knowledge and guidance on traditional methods of cultivating healthy and viable seeds, she has the potential to develop entrepreneurial skills in community seed banking and distribution.