Fintrac Harvest Summer 2009

From chaos to prosperity

Horticulture provides quick income to farmer displaced by post-election violence

NAIROBI — In January 2008, post-election violence forced 32-year old John Onkeo and his family to leave their farm near Eldoret, Rift Valley Province. Desperate for somewhere safe to take his wife and children, he found a piece of farm land available for lease 60 kilometers away in the relatively quiet area of Lugari, Western Province.

Onkeo joined the Saint John Youth Group, a local farmer association with 30 members (12 men and 18 women) that has been receiving technical assistance from Fintrac’s USAID-funded Kenya Horticulture Development Program (KHDP) since January 2007.

Before starting with Fintrac, members of the group were primarily subsistence farmers, growing crops like maize and beans for their own consumption. To complement their diets and provide them with an opportunity to earn additional income at the local market, Fintrac introduced them to higher value crops such as spinach, cabbage, tomato, carrot, onion and watermelon.

The group has learned skills in recordkeeping, seedling grafting, greenhouse construction and management, group marketing, and the use of polypots to germinate hybrid vegetable seeds. By adopting new crops and techniques, the group’s combined income increased 80 percent in 2008.

Onkeo quickly took advantage of Fintrac’s assistance and planted tomatoes, cabbages, carrots and some indigenous African vegetables. In nine months, he was able to make a net profit of $1,064, 314 percent higher than the $257 per year he earned before.

What seemed like a disaster for his family has actually improved his livelihood in less than a year by increasing his family’s food security and income. By the end of this year, he plans to buy an acre of land with his profits from vegetable sales.

“With assistance of KHDP I have completely transformed life for me and my family,” Onkeo said.