![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/9164a03d-960b-43fa-a70d-695e4ef64be3.jpg\")
Loice Kaingu from Mjanaheri village in Magarini is a beneficiary of the farmer business schools \/AGATHA NGOTHO<\/p>\nLoice Kaingu from Mjanaheri village in Magarini is a beneficiary of the farmer business schools \/AGATHA NGOTHO<\/p>\n
About 2,000 farmers in Kilifi county
\nhave benefitted from learning through community-led schools.<\/p>\n
The United Nations of Food and
\nAgriculture Organisation (FAO) describe them as, schools without walls, where
\nfarmers meet weekly to share ideas, test new farming methods and find solutions
\nto challenges.<\/p>\n
Husna Mbarak, land governance programme manager at FAO Kenya
\nsaid the schools operate under Tushauriane, Tuimarishe Kilimo Biashara programme.<\/p>\n
The programme is implemented with
\nthe Centre for Behaviour Change and Communication (CBCC) Africa, Pwani
\nUniversity and Amplio Ghana.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe project combines two approaches, the Women\u2019s Empowerment
\nFarmer Business Schools (WE-FBS) with Social and Behaviour Change Communication
\n(SBCC) and Amplio Talking Books, an audio-based learning tool,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Across Kilifi North, Kilifi South, Magarini and Ganze, 80 FFSs
\nare currently active under the project, each bringing together 25 to 30
\nsmallholder farmers, most of them are women who learn, experiment and make
\ndecisions collectively.<\/p>\n
One of the beneficiaries, Loice Kaingu from Mjanaheri village in
\nMagarini, says she has harvested more than food from the programme.<\/p>\n
She says she has grown confidence,
\nincome and a sense of purpose.<\/p>\n
Each morning, the mother of three sorts through her buckets of
\nripe tomatoes and bunches of amaranth, spinach and sugarcane. She also keeps
\npoultry.<\/p>\n
\u201cFarming pays. We\u2019ve been taught to
\nlook for markets \u2013 far and near. I didn\u2019t know I could plan like this before,\u201d
\nshe says with a smile.<\/p>\n
Before joining the Tushauriane School,
\nKaingu planted without planning and sold whatever survived.<\/p>\n
Today, she and her husband map
\ntheir farm into sections for vegetables, legumes and poultry feed. She keeps
\ndetailed records of sales and expenses.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I come home from the sessions, I explain what we\u2019ve
\ndiscussed. Now my husband supports me and we plan together. He even helps me
\ntake produce to the market,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n
Water remains her biggest challenge. She points to a dry
\nborehole she once dug beside her home. \u201cBut I still irrigate using water we buy
\nor fetch from the stream. My children help after school.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite this, her persistence is
\npaying off as she now sells vegetables to local traders and neighbours, using
\npart of her earnings to pay school fees.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to grow just enough for
\nfood. Now I farm to feed my family and earn an income. That\u2019s what learning has
\ndone for me,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
According to Mbarak, facilitators guide farmers through 24
\nsessions covering topics such as farm planning, market mapping and gender
\nequality.<\/p>\n
Simple audio messages reinforce
\nlessons between meetings, enabling families to continue discussions at home.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis project helps farmers look at their challenges
\ndifferently. It combines training with reflection, changing how people think
\nabout farming, families and fairness,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Hellen Collete, project coordinator
\nat CBCC Africa, says dialogue is at the heart of the Tushauriane schools. <\/p>\n
\u201cWeekly sessions encourage women
\nand men to speak openly about roles, workloads and decision-making, that were
\nonce considered taboo topics,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe see women now running budgets,
\nkeeping records and planning group businesses. They\u2019re not just learning to
\nfarm better; they\u2019re learning to lead.\u201d<\/p>\n
FAO Social Policy Officer Huda Alsahi, based in Rome, says the
\npilot in Kilifi has provided powerful lessons for global programming. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe project combines building
\nfarmers\u2019, especially women\u2019s agribusiness skills with improving market
\nlinkages. <\/p>\n
Even within a short period, we\u2019ve
\nseen that when partners come together and communities take ownership,
\ntransformation happens,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Loice Kaingu from Mjanaheri village in Magarini is a beneficiary of the farmer business schools \/AGATHA NGOTHO About…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18140,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[80,351,352,98,100,353,101,350,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-18139","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kenya","8":"tag-kenya","9":"tag-kenya-news","10":"tag-star","11":"tag-star-news","12":"tag-star-news-kenya","13":"tag-star-newspaper-kenya","14":"tag-the-star","15":"tag-the-star-kenya","16":"tag-the-star-newspaper"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}