It is imperative for farmers to follow the Nuru Kenya Agriculture Program trainings at key times in the season. Planting is one such time, as the technique that farmers use can significantly impact their yields.  To get the highest yields possible, farmers must choose a suitable plot, plant at the right time, follow proper planting protocols and use high-quality inputs. To help farmers succeed, Nuru Kenya offers inputs on credit, comprehensive planting training and in-field support at every step of the planting process.

Proper planting begins with selecting a suitable plot of land for growing maize. Farmers should choose an area that is in full sun, flat and secure. By choosing flat plots, farmers can avoid erosion and depletion of soil nutrients. Flat fields also ensure fertilizers will not run-off during heavy rainfall and pollute nearby water sources. In addition to these requirements, Nuru Kenya encourages farmers to practice crop rotation and avoid planting in fields that have large populations of invasive weeds.

When agriculture is rain-fed, as it is in Kuria West, after farmers have selected and plowed their land, they wait for the rain. Usually, the long rains begin in late February or early March. Many farmers wait until it has rained heavily for two or three days to begin planting. This ensures that the soil is easily workable and has sufficient moisture content after enduring the long, hot days of January. A few days of solid rain often signals the arrival of the rainy season.

Aside from rain, one of the most important aspects of planting is proper spacing. Prior to Nuru Kenya’s trainings, many farmers in Kuria West would broadcast seeds into the field and let them germinate wherever they landed. The broadcasting method of planting is problematic because it does not provide consistent results. Sometimes, too few plants germinate in an area, which results in a small harvest. Other times, too many plants will germinate. If this happens, plants will compete for nutrients, water and sunlight, which also lowers yields.

Nuru farmers plant their maize in rows with 25 cm between each plant and 75 cm between each row. This spacing ensures that each plant receives the water, sunlight and nutrients it needs. Farmers are taught by Nuru Kenya to use a planting string to ensure proper spacing of their maize. To make a planting string, farmers take a rope or string and make a mark or tie a piece of plastic along the string every 25 cm. When planting, they stretch the string across their field and dig small holes at every mark to indicate where seeds should be planted. After finishing a row, the farmer moves the string to the next row and begins again.

Once the spacing is marked in the field, the farmer goes to each hole and pours in one bottle cap of diammonium phosphate (DAP). DAP is a conventional fertilizer that assists with germination and early plant growth. Proper fertilization for early plant growth was seldom done in Kuria West prior to Nuru Kenya’s intervention because most farmers did not have access to cash or even small loans to purchase fertilizer. Others did not know how to properly apply fertilizer.  Nuru Kenya teaches its farmers to add a small amount of DAP to each hole, just enough for proper plant growth, rather than applying the fertilizer liberally across the field. This helps the farmer save money and ensures the fertilizer does not contaminate the surrounding environment. After adding DAP, the farmer is almost done. The farmer covers the DAP with some soil, adds one certified hybrid seed to the hole, and then tops it off with soil.

Planting an acre of maize by hand requires a significant amount of time and labor. Depending on the available household labor, planting can take up to a couple of weeks. However, Nuru farmers work in groups of 8-12 to plant their fields. By working in groups, farmers can cut the time it takes to plant an acre down from one or two weeks to one or two days. This helps ensure the crop gets planted in sync with the rains and with the support from other group members, each of which have been trained in the proper planting techniques.

When it comes to planting, using proper technique and quality inputs are both important. By choosing to farm with Nuru Kenya’s Agriculture Program, Kuria West farmers get the total package. They get quality inputs on credit, are taught how to use them to maximize their yields, and are supported by field officers and group members along the way. Farming maize using manpower is still difficult and requires hard work and dedication, but by working together, Nuru Kenya and the farmers of Kuria West are helping to end hunger in their communities for good.

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At every step of the maize farming season, Nuru Kenya’s field officers are there to provide expertise and support to its farmers. The training series for 2013 started in December and will continue through July. The training series is a comprehensive package aimed at teaching farmers how to properly use their inputs, work together to accomplish more, plan for their family’s annual consumption needs and repay their loans on time. The trainings aim to impart invaluable technical knowledge to farmers while at the same time empowering farmers to be leaders in their households and communities.

The first training in the series is ground preparation. In all of Nuru Kenya Agriculture Program’s trainings, the staff instructs the farmer what to do and why each step is important. In ground preparation training farmers learn how plowing properly can help them eliminate weeds to ensure their maize is healthier and save them time later in the season during weeding.

Next comes planting training. During this training farmers learn to plant in rows and properly space their maize. They are also educated about the proper application of diammonium phosphate, a planting fertilizer. Planting training is followed by gapping training, which teaches farmers to replace seeds that failed to germinate.

The planting season usually ends in mid-March. The maize grows taller as the rains continue; and, unfortunately, so do the weeds. There is a strong correlation between good yields and properly weeded fields, so the next training the Kenyan staff gives is weeding and topdressing. Weeding can be very hard work, so the weeding training helps reinforce its importance in addition to teaching proper techniques. During this training farmers also learn how to properly apply calcium ammonium nitrate, a topdressing fertilizer.

Once the maize has formed cobs and kernels, the Agriculture staff knows the time for harvest is nearing. Around harvest time, there are three different trainings. The first one is aimed at the technical aspects of bringing in maize from the field. The second, shelling and bagging training, aims to reduce post-harvest losses among farmers by teaching them proper handling and storage techniques. Completing the series is loan repayment training. This training is ultra crucial as it teaches farmers how to divide their maize harvest to ensure they have enough food for their family, pay the balance on their agricultural loan and have some left over for sale to bring in money for things like school fees.

Farmer trainings are an essential part of the Nuru Kenya Agriculture program. The staff knows that equipping farmers with the tools for good maize harvests is only one piece of the equation. To really improve yields, farmers must also receive knowledge about how to use those tools. The agricultural training series aims to impart this vital knowledge and empower farmers at every step of the long rains season.

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A day of input issue begins early in the morning as staff arrives to coordinate the loading of fertilizer and seed onto trucks. Depending on the number of trucks going out that day, it can take several hours to complete the counting and loading. Once the loading is complete, the staff heads out to the sites. This year, Kuria West is experiencing heavier than normal rainfall in January, resulting in muddy roads and occasionally washed-out bridges. This can make reaching the pre-determined sites a challenge. To avoid a problem, the Nuru Kenya Agriculture Program staff scouts questionable sites ahead of time so if taking an alternate route or moving a site is necessary, it can be done well in advance.

While the trucks are en-route to the sites, other staff members are busy setting up the issuing site and organizing the farmers who’ve arrived early. Each issuing site consists of several stations that must be set up for the most efficient distribution possible as some sites serve hundreds of farmers in one day.

Once the truck arrives and the stations are set up, the distribution begins. Farmers are told ahead of time that they should come with the others in their group to help speed up the process. A farmer group first proceeds to the pre-payment station where they make a down payment on their loan. This station is new in 2013 and is part of the Agriculture program’s strategy to encourage early repayment. Groups then move on to contracts and receipting where their contract is checked for a signature, dated and they are given a receipt for collecting their inputs.

The final stop for farmers is to pick up their fertilizer and seeds. Each acre of maize requires one bag of diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertilizer that is used during planting to promote germination and early plant growth and one bag of calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) fertilizer that is used later in the season. Each bag of fertilizer weighs 50 kilograms (110 pounds), so moving the bags around is a strenuous exercise. An acre of maize also requires 10 kilograms of certified hybrid seed. Once they’ve received their inputs, the group is finished and farmers can help each other in transporting their fertilizer and seeds to their individual farms.

Issuing inputs to 300 or more farmers can take the better part of the day. In the late afternoon, once the issuing is finished, any remaining inputs must be counted, loaded back on the truck and driven back to the warehouse to be unloaded. The staff then counts receipts, packs up and prepares to do it all again the next day.

Input issue is a lot of work, but it is also a great team-building activity for the Nuru Kenya Agriculture Program. Field Managers, who usually work in separate geographic locations, travel around to help one another at the issue sites. This allows them to spend time together as well as meet Field Officers and farmers from other areas. By working all together to accomplish such a monumental and vital task, the agriculture staff is able to build a camaraderie that will help them tackle challenges throughout the new year.

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In previous blogs, you’ve heard a lot about the program’s strengths, challenges, recruitment strategy and harvest time success. This month I want to focus on the program’s impact on farmers and households and HOW the impact is achieved. Currently, the program focuses its attention and efforts on farming maize. Maize is a staple crop in Kuria West. It is central to household food security. The agriculture program helps farmers increase their harvest using two primary program components: small, low interest loans maize farming inputs and a training series that teaches farmers how to properly use the inputs.

Many people living in poverty around the world are small-scale subsistence farmers who do not have enough capital available to consistently buy inputs for proper farming. The same people often live in remote, rural areas where services, such as access to credit are lacking. The dearth of capital and credit leaves them no choice but to farm with inadequate inputs, which results in poor yields. Nuru addresses this problem in Kuria West by loaning farmers the required fertilizers and seed. By taking an agricultural loan with Nuru, a farmer is guaranteed to receive high-quality inputs in time for the planting season. The farmers then have 9 months to pay back the loan. With a Nuru agricultural loan comes other benefits such as low interest rates and loan forgiveness for the household in the event of a farmer’s death.

While delivering inputs to farmers is a great first step, those inputs will do little to improve yields if farmers do not know how to use them. Our training series starts with ground preparation and educates farmers on best practices throughout the growing season. Our trainings cover the use of inputs, such as how and when to use each fertilizer and how to properly plant and space the certified seeds. But, we don’t stop there, Nuru Kenya provides farmers with the whole package including information about proper weeding techniques and timing and how farmers can minimize post-harvest losses.

Following the trainings requires considerable work and dedication, but Nuru farmers that take a loan and follow the trainings see real, measurable improvement in their fields. On average, in 2012, we increased farmers’ maize yields by 123%! This yield increase impacts households in different ways depending on their starting point. For most households it helps to eliminate the hunger season that the majority used to experience on an annual basis. Our farmers that are able to farm two or three acres often have a big enough harvest to invest in other areas such as school fees for their children, household improvements or starting a small business to supplement income and reduce household vulnerability to income shocks.

The Nuru Kenya Agriculture Program staff is proud of how they’ve assisted the farmers in their community in 2012. Yet, they’re continually looking for ways to increase their impact and expand their reach. As they gear up for the 2013 long rains season, they are determined to continue to be drivers of positive change in farms and households throughout Kuria West.

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2012 was a year of firsts for Nuru Agriculture in many ways. The agriculture program was growing and changing in ways that required the staff to adapt and troubleshoot on the fly. In spite of such uncertainty, the Agriculture Program still enjoyed many successes; including:

Scaling

In 2012 we disbursed input loans to 2,783 farmers, a large increase from our 2011 operations. Scalability is a crucial piece of Nuru’s model, and scaling often requires quick thinking and innovation of the previous year’s operations. By successfully serving 2,783 farmers in 2012, Nuru Agriculture made big strides towards becoming a program that can handle exponential farmer growth.

Loan Repayment

To function in a financially sustainable manner, each input loan must also be collected upon. Loan collection in a remote, rural area requires a lot of manpower – our field officers and managers spent countless hours moving from farm to farm collecting cash, writing receipts and ensuring the payments made it back to the Regional Training Center. Loan collection is still ongoing but Nuru Kenya has had great success so far and the staff is nearing their repayment target a little more each day.

Trainings & Yields

Fertilizers and seed are of little use if a farmer does not know how to properly use them. In 2012, we trained all of our 2,783 farmers on eight different maize farming and input topics. Through our trainings and inputs, farmers saw large increases in their maize yields. They can translate these increases into household income and food security.

While the staff of Nuru Agriculture has much to celebrate, we also faced challenges in 2012. Some of our biggest ones included:

Early Repayment

In previous years, farmers waited to pay their loans until harvest but in 2012 they were encouraged to practice continuous loan repayment; meaning they make small payments as they are able. This was a great first step but Nuru Kenya needs to take more steps to encourage and facilitate early repayment. Early repayment is great for Nuru and also benefits farmers. For instance, a farmer who owes only a small amount at harvest can sell surplus harvest for other uses such as school fees, can store maize to take advantage of higher prices, and they avoid the stress of paying a large sum at one time. Therefore, in 2013, Nuru Kenya Agriculture staff will be experimenting with strategies to increase early repayment.

Improving Market Access

Each harvest season the Nuru Income Generating Activites (IGA) program provides a fair, reliable market for Nuru farmers by purchasing their maize. Although maize purchasing is an IGA program, its success relies on close collaboration with the Agriculture program. This year, a mobile buying strategy was employed for the first time. Mobile buying entails trucks and buyers circulating around Kuria West to purchase maize. Overall, the strategy was a big success. Yet, as it was the strategy’s inaugural year, there were some kinks to work out in terms of efficiently communicating with farmers and running the operation’s logistics. Long term, the mobile buying holds a lot of promise as a financially sustainable way to provide market access, which is exciting for both IGA and Agriculture.

All in all, 2012 was an inspiring year that helped staff understand the Nuru Agriculture program’s strengths, recognize its areas for improvement and reconnect with their belief in its mission. As Nuru Agriculture prepares for new challenges in 2013, it will be essential for the staff to keep in mind the lessons they have learned and continually celebrate past successes.

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Base education is an important milestone in the beginning of a new farming season because it is the new farmers’ introduction to all things Nuru. The staff running the events goes into each event with excitement (and apprehension!) about how many farmers in a new area will want to join Nuru. Agriculture staff usually shows up early and counts farmers as they trickle in from all directions while doing final rehearsals of the upcoming trainings. Some farmers know very little of Nuru. Some have attended earlier, shorter informational meetings. Others have seen Nuru working with their neighbors & friends in different areas and have been waiting for the day when they too can become a Nuru farmer.

The two-day training event consists of four different training topics. The trainings were revamped this year to be more understandable, concise and engaging. The topics include Intro to Nuru, Intro to Inputs, Loans & Credit, and Group Work, Hard Work & Servant Leadership. While there are many important points that farmers need to take away from the trainings, just as critical are activities that keep the event fun, engaging and thought provoking.

For example, after introducing all of Nuru’s programs, the Intro to Nuru training challenges farmers to envision and describe a better life for themselves. Some of those visions are shared with the group and then farmers and staff discuss how they can achieve these visions working together.

The Intro to Inputs training is important because while many of Nuru’s new farmers have been growing maize for years, some have never been taught how to properly use inputs such as fertilizer (or have never had access to such inputs!). The Intro to Inputs training teaches farmers about inputs & their proper use.  Nuru Kenya staff use examples of high quality and poor quality maize to demonstrate how much of a difference the proper use of high quality inputs can mean to maize yields and quality.

The Loans & Credit training teaches farmers that a loan is not a gift, but must be paid back. To drive home the concepts of loans, credit and guarantors, Nuru Kenya staff uses interactive role-plays that show the consequences of not paying back a loan. Using drama to make a point ensures that the farmers stay engaged and gives them examples of how to apply the new concepts to real life. Nuru Kenya staff also love getting creative, having fun and acting out the different scenarios!

Conveying information through the interactive trainings comprises a lot of the event. After they conclude, farmers form their groups and sign-up for a loan using new member and group forms. Signing up doesn’t seem like a very exciting part of the event, but with hundreds of farmers rushing to form groups and fill forms in churches, schools and empty fields, it can be quite an interesting (and sometimes chaotic!) part of the event. After the forms have been completed, Nuru Kenya staff take a deep breath, congratulate each other on a job well done and head back to the office to prepare to do it all again the next day.

Base education is definitely one of the most challenging and exciting events that the Nuru Agriculture program holds for farmers. Making the event a success requires hard work and dedication from the Nuru Kenya Agriculture team. Yet, as we get to know our new farmers and begin to see the increase in people we will be able to help over the coming year, the Nuru Kenya team and I know that all the planning and hard work will pay off over the next year. We can see that Nuru Kenya’s impact is starting to reach far beyond just individuals or households; with each successfully completed base education event, Nuru Kenya comes just a little closer to improving the community of Kuria West as a whole.

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Most Nuru farmers have brought their maize in from the fields and are beginning to dry and shell (remove the kernels from the cob) it in anticipation for sale or storage. This is one of the most rewarding times for the agriculture program staff. As we move among the homesteads, we see mountain upon mountain of high quality maize. But, more encouraging than the maize itself, are the smiles we see on the faces of farmers and the stories they have to tell about how farming with Nuru has improved their harvests and changed their lives.

Take the story of Peter Chacha, who has now been farming with Nuru for four seasons. He says the fertilizers and seed he receives on loan from Nuru, when coupled with the trainings on how to properly use the inputs, have at least doubled and some years quadrupled his harvest. Through his increased maize yields, Peter has been able to move out from his parents’ homestead and build his own house. Furthermore, he and his wife have opened a small kiosk (shop) that provides essentials like soap, cooking oil, sugar and salt to his neighbors and serves as another source of income for Peter’s family.

Or look at the Sinda family, who through farming with Nuru has been able to pay secondary school fees for five children. Having an education could exponentially increase career opportunities for their children. Additionally, their youngest children should finish school in the next few years and the family is excited about what they might put their extra income towards once there are no more school fees to pay.

Yet, it is not only the veteran farmers who have stories to share. Farmers that are new to Nuru Agriculture in 2012 have doubled, tripled and quadrupled their harvests. Many are simply looking forward to the first year that they will have enough food to feed their family throughout the year. Others are starting to make small household improvements or finding ways to save and make money by investing in items like plows and oxen. Perhaps most importantly, many have regained the hope that life can be better in coming years and are beginning to think about how they can shape their future rather than focusing on surviving the present.

As a relatively new program manager, I realize that much of this success is the fruition of work that was conducted long before I arrived to Kuria, but I still find myself carried away by the contagious excitement of farmers and the Kenyan staff. These stories reinforce the massive potential that lies in the Nuru Agriculture program and encourage me to embrace operational challenges with a renewed sense of purpose and optimism. By expanding and refining our work over the next year, my team and I have the opportunity to build on the success of past years and continue to improve thousands of lives across Kuria West.

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When I first accepted the Agriculture Fellow position with Nuru, I was a bit nervous to take over the reigns of such a large and impactful program. I grew more and more confident during transition as I began acquiring knowledge from the outgoing program manager, Matt Lineal, yet I could tell that I would have my plate full as the new program manager of the Nuru agriculture program. From loan issue and repayment to farmer training to scaling operations, the multitude of detail involved at every step of Nuru Ag can be overwhelming. Luckily, I quickly realized that along with my own education and experience, I had a wealth of resources at my fingertips in the form of local staff and their vast knowledge.

I first became aware of the importance of incorporating local knowledge into poverty alleviation efforts through my graduate research. For my thesis, I spent three months in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya studying the interaction between drought coping mechanisms, poverty dynamics and adaptive capacity to climate change. While conducting the fieldwork, it emerged repeatedly that farmers’ coping abilities were both aided and constrained by conditions and processes that an outsider might easily overlook. My thesis was largely shaped by this experience, as one of the major arguments was that to be successful, poverty alleviation efforts must consider local knowledge, priorities and value systems.

So far, my experience with Nuru has strongly reinforced this theory. In just six weeks, the Nuru agriculture staff has taught me a myriad of lessons that are paramount to the agriculture program’s success. For example, there exists the simple fact that to be able to effectively and efficiently run a program that is spread among thousands of farmers and hundreds of kilometers one must be well acquainted with the geography of an area. This is important not only to locate farmers and plan meetings; but also to distribute literally tons of fertilizer and seed while overcoming numerous accessibility challenges that change with the season. The Nuru agriculture staff has played a crucial role by aiding my study of Kuria West’s divisions, sub-locations, villages, roads and everything in between. In addition to geography, the staff has a nuanced understanding of community dynamics, hierarchies and interpersonal relationships among farmers. They understand the underlying reasons for any social or community problems that might affect the agriculture program’s work and know the proper channels to follow for resolving them. Yet, the staff’s understanding of the community goes even deeper as the Nuru Agriculture staff are great at thinking up innovative ways to communicate with farmers, have helpful insight on how farmers will feel about any programmatic changes we might make and come up with countless ideas about how we might better serve our farmers. Last but not least, our people in the field, from field officers up to field directors, contain a wealth of technical knowledge about invasive weeds, soil composition, weather patterns and seed varieties, just to name a few. The list could go on and on, but to summarize, I have been truly impressed by the staff I am working alongside and their incredible insight into all things Nuru agriculture. One final lesson from the last six weeks is that the staff are well equipped to do their jobs because they are Kenyan farmers.

Nuru empowers Kurians by involving them along every step of the development process, but their emphasis on the importance of local knowledge doesn’t end there. When I was looking for a job, part of what attracted me to Nuru was their conception of poverty alleviation as an increase in meaningful choices people may make to improve their lives. That is, people living in poverty need to become decision-makers in their own lives and need fewer constraints on the choices they can make. They do not to be told to follow some ready-made poverty solution that was developed without their input. The Nuru agriculture program increases Kurian farmer’s choices by helping them increase what is often their primary source of livelihood – their maize yield. Farmers can then choose how to best use this increase in household food supply and income.

After witnessing the vast wealth of knowledge and expertise that exists among the Nuru agriculture staff, I feel confident that my team and I will have a successful year ahead (albeit one filled with a lot more learning on my part!). Furthermore, I am extremely grateful to have this opportunity to continue co-creating poverty alleviation measures that will help increase the freedoms Kurian farmers are able to enjoy.

 Amy Sherwood is pleased to join the Nuru Kenya team as the new Agriculture Fellow/Program Manager. Originally from Nebraska, Amy has spent much of the last few years researching and working in East Africa. She holds a BS in biology from Doane College and an MA in International Studies and Environment and Natural Resources from the University of Wyoming. Prior to joining Nuru, Amy worked for the Jane Goodall Institute – Tanzania as a project and volunteer coordinator for their Roots & Shoots program in Dar es Salaam. She values locally appropriate, holistic approaches to poverty alleviation and is honored to have the opportunity to support the work of an organization that shares her vision.

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