Loice Kaingu from Mjanaheri village in Magarini is a beneficiary of the farmer business schools /AGATHA NGOTHO
About 2,000 farmers in Kilifi county
have benefitted from learning through community-led schools.
The United Nations of Food and
Agriculture Organisation (FAO) describe them as, schools without walls, where
farmers meet weekly to share ideas, test new farming methods and find solutions
to challenges.
Husna Mbarak, land governance programme manager at FAO Kenya
said the schools operate under Tushauriane, Tuimarishe Kilimo Biashara programme.
The programme is implemented with
the Centre for Behaviour Change and Communication (CBCC) Africa, Pwani
University and Amplio Ghana.
“The project combines two approaches, the Women’s Empowerment
Farmer Business Schools (WE-FBS) with Social and Behaviour Change Communication
(SBCC) and Amplio Talking Books, an audio-based learning tool,” he said.
Across Kilifi North, Kilifi South, Magarini and Ganze, 80 FFSs
are currently active under the project, each bringing together 25 to 30
smallholder farmers, most of them are women who learn, experiment and make
decisions collectively.
One of the beneficiaries, Loice Kaingu from Mjanaheri village in
Magarini, says she has harvested more than food from the programme.
She says she has grown confidence,
income and a sense of purpose.
Each morning, the mother of three sorts through her buckets of
ripe tomatoes and bunches of amaranth, spinach and sugarcane. She also keeps
poultry.
“Farming pays. We’ve been taught to
look for markets – far and near. I didn’t know I could plan like this before,”
she says with a smile.
Before joining the Tushauriane School,
Kaingu planted without planning and sold whatever survived.
Today, she and her husband map
their farm into sections for vegetables, legumes and poultry feed. She keeps
detailed records of sales and expenses.
“When I come home from the sessions, I explain what we’ve
discussed. Now my husband supports me and we plan together. He even helps me
take produce to the market,” she adds.
Water remains her biggest challenge. She points to a dry
borehole she once dug beside her home. “But I still irrigate using water we buy
or fetch from the stream. My children help after school.”
Despite this, her persistence is
paying off as she now sells vegetables to local traders and neighbours, using
part of her earnings to pay school fees.
“I used to grow just enough for
food. Now I farm to feed my family and earn an income. That’s what learning has
done for me,” she says.
According to Mbarak, facilitators guide farmers through 24
sessions covering topics such as farm planning, market mapping and gender
equality.
Simple audio messages reinforce
lessons between meetings, enabling families to continue discussions at home.
“This project helps farmers look at their challenges
differently. It combines training with reflection, changing how people think
about farming, families and fairness,” he says.
Hellen Collete, project coordinator
at CBCC Africa, says dialogue is at the heart of the Tushauriane schools.
“Weekly sessions encourage women
and men to speak openly about roles, workloads and decision-making, that were
once considered taboo topics,” she says.
“We see women now running budgets,
keeping records and planning group businesses. They’re not just learning to
farm better; they’re learning to lead.”
FAO Social Policy Officer Huda Alsahi, based in Rome, says the
pilot in Kilifi has provided powerful lessons for global programming.
“The project combines building
farmers’, especially women’s agribusiness skills with improving market
linkages.
Even within a short period, we’ve
seen that when partners come together and communities take ownership,
transformation happens,” she says.