Emerge has been focusing on Africa lately. Particularly in regard to the United Nations Inner Development Goals and our recent article on the Great Green Wall. Those are big projects. Here's something more personal and immediate... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello, my name is Kevin Ouma Owuor. I am the founder of
Kanyanjwa Community Farm Project in Homa Bay near Lake Victoria in Kenya. It was formed in 2020 to create sustainable development/living in the community.
When I finished high school in April 2021, I was accepted to study medical engineering but was unable to start due to a lack of funds. Instead, I focused on helping with the suffering in my home community. This has long hurt my heart and I was inspired by the possibilities of permaculture. I have some training in
Syntropic Agroforestry -- which is
the replicating and acceleration of the natural process of ecological succession and stratification. That creates the ideal conditions for plant development.
I have been successfully practicing those techniques here in my community -- but why? My goal is to help eradicate food shortages, improve the health of all community members, get the youth involved in the permaculture system, and ensure their education.
Our mission is very straightforward.
We must ensure that the community has (1) good food that we can grow ourselves (2) proper water for drinking (3) hygienic conditions (4) adequate education (5) the capacity to care for old men and women in the community, as well as orphans.
These needs are immediate but they are also part of my dream for Kanyanjwa Community Farm to become a regenerative education centre for the region -- part of the emerging network of
African permaculture hubs.
There is a lot of support for this project among those who know about it but not many people do. My immediate goal is to raise $4500 for water, housing, fencing & seeds.
It hurts my heart to see people in my community suffering from outbreaks of waterborne diseases. We are currently harvesting rooftop rainwater for drinking and cooking and walking 15km to access water during drought seasons. We need to secure at least 10k litres of fresh water to keep people healthy and take our agricultural projects to the next level. We also need to establish housing, fences that prevent animals from entering the farm and a variety of seeds need to be purchased.
* LEARN MORE *write to kanyanjwacommunity@gmail.com
contact
Kevin on Facebook.
