wepoga kenya volunteer program..

Welcome volunteers !

WHAT WEPOGA DOES:
WEPOGA provides full demonstrations of each of the following methods to anyone interested in learning about organic farming.Through creating awareness and providing practical training in organic farming to farmers-men,women and the rural youth groups.We also gather and disseminate information on organic farming in the Western region.We give full training seminars on:
1. Organic pesticides are made from bitter mung'ulie leaves, red onions, sodom apples, kitchen ash and hot peppers.
2. Organic fertilizer are created by mixing kitchen wastes, any dry leaves or grass, maize stalks, soil, eggshells, animal droppings, and kitchen ash. This fertiliazer is a soil feeder making the crops receive its exact requirements,not over dose.This also ensures nothing is wasted by leaching or by the formation of insoluble compounds.Also Vegetables and water
3. Intercropping: Planting local trees and plants such as the gravalia tree mixed in with your crops can return nitrogen to the soil, while feeding your livestock as well!
4. Crop rotation: By alternating the crops grown on a given plot, the diversity of plant matter can return nutrients to the soil, making it fertile and productive without the use of fertilizers.
5. Integrated Pest Management: The introduction of natural predators such as praying mantises and ladybugs can help control pests without the use of spraying exterminations.
6. Desmodium seeds: These cheap,locally-found seeds planted away from your crops attract birds and insects, who flock to them rather than attacking your fields. Apart from this it controls striga weed and adds nitrogen to the soil.
7. Paper bag scarecrows: Paper bags tied to string or posts move when blown by the wind, crea
ting the illusion for birds that someone is guarding the fields. They are then scared away and leave your crops intact.We also provide one-on-one visits to each farm to help adapt the techniques. Individual needs are considered and follow-up visits are made to address any problems.
8. The use of raised beds to allow closer spacing of vegetables.
9.Crop protection by means of plant lures and deterrents.
10.Double digging to break up the hard pan several centimeters below the surface,which impends the flow of air ,water and the penetration of roots.
11.Animal husbandryi.e poultry,dairy farmingpig,sheep,goats-which tries to cater for the animal’s nutural instincts which includes zero grazing as away of collecting animal manure. 12.Mixed cropping to discourage pest build up and to improve soil cover.

B. THE WEPOGA COMMUNITY:- Members of WEPOGA meet once every month to discuss the issues and problems they encounter, and to share success stories of the strategies that have worked best. They also work to reduce competition among themselves. When many farmers grow the same product at the same time, supply is high and wholesale prices fall at the market. WEPOGA farmers work to compromise and grow different crops from each other at different times, so each crop is more valuable.By promising certain buyers to bring contamination-free food to their front door each week, we are creating a list of guaranteed buyers for organic farmers. By this way, our farmers will have the financial security of knowing that at least some of their food will always be sold to the same buyers .We would like to set up a delivery service system where by we shall have to deliver farmer's organic produce to the market. Our vision is to upgrade Wepoga in the near future from a community based org to an NGO so that we may have a capacity to expand our services.

WEPOGA's VOLUNTEER PLACEMENT INFORMATION:-

WORK WITH WEPOGAWEPOGA is always looking for qualified volunteers to assist with both the educative and administrative functions of the organization. There is considerable scope for personalizing each volunteer’s project; we want to match your project to your strengths, whether that lies in fieldwork, research, administration, fundraising or marketing.WEPOGA is currently located in Kabula, a small village outside of Bungoma in Western Province. Volunteers can access most of the necessities of life, including the internet, from either of these two locations. However, many volunteers find their "big city fix" in one of the two main cities within two hours’ drive – Eldoret or Kisumu. Nearer to home, Kakamega, Busia, Webuye and Malaba also offer some scope for day tripping or weekends visiting rain forests, camping, hiking to waterfalls, etc.Successful volunteers are housed with a family in the local community. Volunteer placements are usually three months (with two weeks off mid-placement or at the end for independent travel in Kenya).Food and accommodation is provided for a basic cost of US $50 (or the equivalent in KSh3800) per week. All volunteers are required to contribute a minimal program fee of US $200, which is used to cover administrative costs and to assist the organization to grow. We estimate that a volunteer needs about US $300 per month to live comfortably, excluding travel costs, present shopping and other luxuries.Our representatives will welcome you at Kisumu or Eldoret airport, which are connected by daily flights to Nairobi International Airport. Alternatively, pick-ups from Nairobi can be arranged for a fee of US $120.

PAST VOLUNTEERS:- WEPOGA has already welcomed volunteers from three different continents, including the USA, Germany, and Australia our first and the founder member for wepoga was Brant Rotnem rom Boston University(USA) who volunteerd from 12th june to 10th August 2005. We have just seen off one of our most prominent Germany volunteer who has been with us as from 24th jan to 20th july 2006 she has studied Athropology and African studies she has really worked for wepoga towards capacity building and she is now co-ordinating wepoga from Germany. All our volunteer projects have been different, reflecting the skills and interests of each individual(s). Our most recent (12th july to 20th september)volunteer hailed from Melbourne, Australia. He is staying with us for 10 weeks, assisting WEPOGA in the production of marketing and promotional materials, in facilitating farmer education workshops and in building a network of purchasers of organic produce in the Western Province. He also carried out background research regarding the social, economic and environmental problems affecting farmers in the region.

HOW TO GET IN CONTACT:- Initial expressions of interest should be addressed to Benson Keya and should include information on the following: · Your name, age, qualifications; . Experience, if any, of Africa or any other third world country · .Length of time you are available to volunteer and when . .What kind of work you would be most interested in doing Please contact Benson on:- balakonya@yahoo.com . Hope to hear from you soon!

FUNDRAISING:- At present, WEPOGA heavily depends on member contributions and volunteers for assistance.

FUTURE PROJECTS:-
-We are researching on varieties of economical food crops such as sweet potatoes, Local vegetables, Soya beans and hot peppers
- we are interested in joining other organisations in the region like Sacred Africa and the Mabanga Farmers Training Centre, who are researching on new varieties of crops like highland "new rice for Africa", maize, groundnuts that are tolerant to diseases etc. and on striga weed management
- we are looking for sponsors in Bungoma, Nairobi and the rest of the world to help us run our projects. WE WANT:-
- To teach and establish more groups: three self initiated orphan schools need support ! we have to motivate and mobilize the widows or guardians for the future of the children.
-We have so far been able to make some contacts with FAO headquarters office in Nairobi and they have been able to link us up with other organizations that are working in the Western Province, CAFOD office Nairobi. We have also been able to link up with the Kenya Organic Institute of Organic Farming which is situated in Thika and they are offering : 1.The training department including farmers workshops consultancy and outreach including participatory on – farm research, consultancy and demonstration centres. 2. Information including library, publications and quarterly magazine- previously “Foes of Famine” and now “ Mambo Leisa” and a monthly newsletter. We would like to help/sponsor our farmers in the western region to go to Kenya Institute of Organic Farming (KIOF) for a one week training seminar on organic agriculture and also do a field exchange program. Furthermore since KIOF is offering TOTS we would like to train our farmers to help us in our outreach programmes for training the others so that we reach a good number of farmers . -We are still in the process of meeting /visiting more org to see to it that we are networking /collaborating with them.

MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT REQUIRED:-
- Medium water pumps (1= 4600 KSh =70$)
- water tanks (according to size 1= 3000-10 000 KSh =50-150 $) - energy saving stoves (120-3000 KSh =2-50 $)
- Mosquito nets (1= 350 KSh =5$) - Clothes, shoes for children
- Money for paying school fees for orphans (direct to the school) - To dig boreholes (1= 15000 KSh =215$)
- To build small traditional houses for widows with to many children (1=12000 KSH =175$) -Sponsoring our farmers to go for a one week training seminar at KIOF (KSHS 3000 transport costs per farmer and KHS500 training fee for each farmer for 1 week total Khs 3500/$50) - Solar technology. - Providing clean water services to the community for they usually use water tablets to purify water, which usually contains chloride.
- Collaboration/partnership with interested organization for better service delivery to the community.
-Motor bicycles for our field co-ordinators community outreach empowerment, follow up visits, monitoring and evaluation e.t.c

Current problems:-

We do not have a car. So everything takes long time. In view of the high cost of fuel in Kenya, a vehicle is sought with a diesel engine. High road clearance is an absolute necessity, as is the capacity for constant off-road use. Almost all roads are dirt. Rains make the terrain very difficult for half the year. Vehicles which have proved themselves particularly durable in this area are Toyota Land Cruisers and – possibly most rugged of all – the Land Rover Discovery specifically for organic delivery service for wepoga farmers. Of course beggars cannot be choosers, and any off-road utility would be most welcome. Last but not least we need an office space aprinter, Scanner and a photocopier, a plot for demonstrations and experiments (1 Acre minimum) and we want to establish a resource centre concerning organic agriculture where seminars can be held and east African flora and fauna. Any questions or problems that meetings can not address could be researched at the resource centre and the central place with demonstration plot, office, library, meeting room would function at the same time for enhancing contacts and getting new ones. We also have to build small traditional houses for volunteers at the centre and those interested in cultural home stays in Western Kenya. You are invited to contact us and we do promise to collaborate/Partner. Thank you.

WEPOGA KENYA

The Western Province Organic Growers’ Alliance (WEPOGA) is set to provide a safe environment condusive to learning that enables growth academically,emotionally,socially and spiritually of all orphaned children regardless of race, religion,gender, tribal,ethinicty or other discriminating factors.It is also concerned with creating an environment that will ensure prevention activities and to improve the capacity of communities to cope with effects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic using localresources thruogh community initiatives.The ministryis based in Western Kenya East Africa.

INTRODUCTION:

There is a large population of people who have contractedHIV/AIDS or have already died,while other familie often suffer even if only one parent dies while the children are still very young.The failies consist ofmany children,an average of 5-10 children per wife in each family.Therefore when the parents die the children becomes orphaned to due to in ability to care and support themselves economicayll.This in the ends up living in the streets in the nearest town.The streets leads the childen begging for food,clothes,and sniffing glueto warm their bodies in the colder areas of the country.It later results in to crime as means of getting food and clothing. The children need rehabilitation them in a daycare centre,food clothing,counseling,spiritual nourishment in order to compete with their peers when they enter in to job market and at the same time learning how to adapt life without parents while being made to feel an important member of the society and the productive part. RESOLUTIONS -There is a need to have a well established center which will take care of the orphaned children.Logos academy hopes to provide a place for the children to reside as well as learn employment trades in order to become self-reliant by the time they leave the academy. - The ministry strongly rely on well wishers,donors, churches,government support and fundraising to get more land bought,building and farmingproject.The center will start small with a few-self sustaining projects then as more children reside at the center and the more money making projects it has,the center will remain completely a non-profit organisation.

OBJECTIVES

1. To Offer services regardless of tribe, race, religion etc.
2.To Counsel and provide emotional needs for each child as well as drugs addictions.
3.To supply adequate clothes,food,education anda place to stay and teaching them living skills and other additional training specificneeds and disabilities.
4.To provide formal educatin as wellas some traditional excluding any tribal traditions due to discrinimination of certaintribes and harmful practice.This will slowly intergrate them back in to the society properly.
5.Provide a safe environment condusive to learning that anables growth academically,socially and spiritually.We shal expose them to God during worship services and daily prayers.

VALUES OF LOGOS ACADEMY MINISTRY
-Weare steward and value people's life.
-Weare partners and solidarity with people living HIV/AIDS,widows,orphans and widowers.
-Fairness,,justice and equity and respects for the rights of women and children. -Participation and inclusion,courage of conviction.
-Intergrity,honesty,transparency and accountability.
-Committed to the poor and the marginilised.

ESTIMATED BUDGET FOR THE 1ST YEAR

-Land and building $50,000 Food and clothing and medication for 100 children $13,000
-Salaries and wages per $10,000
-Transpotation of children to the center and hospital and collecting the children $12,000
-Education fro the children it will depend on where they want to go per child $10,000 .

For more in formation please contact:
Benson Alakonya in Kenya, P.O. Box 662,Bungoma, Kenya, East Africa. E-mail- balakonya@yahoo.com

We are also currently operating five mobile clinics each month in remote, rural communities from which travel to the nearest regular medical facility is difficult. On an average one-day clinic we see upwards of 200 patients. Many have chronic conditions with osteoperosis and osteomilitis being common. Wounds are also a regular as are tropical children's conditions such as blackwater fever, typhoid, malaria, as well as scabies, ringworm,, etc. In addition I run five clinics each month for victims of torture -obviously largly trauma patients. These are held in the areas around our Western Kenya base.We also work at the local district hospital, and Three times a week we assess patients for HIV/AIDS and provide access to VCTs andtoARVs where appropriate.We supervise about ten teams of home-based care volunteers and also run training weeks for new volunteers. In addition we visit schools, youth groups, community groups and churches with HIV/AIDS awareness presentations. At present we are also leading training seminars for medical staff on ARV treatment.When staffing levels permit,We also offer free health checks for pupils at local primary schools (ages 6 to 14). This month, for example, we aim to visit just one school, but it has 1200 pupils. Outside the strictly medical area, we assist with OVC programmes and nutrition/PMTCT projects. An average day begins at 0600 and we get home around 1900. We travel by a hired 4x4 as our clinics are quite remote. It costs around $200 US to live well here per month this is $50 per week, including accommodation! This excludes the local nightclub and brew! We charge a program fee of $200. The cost of getting to us from either Kampala or Nairobi is about $120 round trip. It would be good to have you join us for a few weeks/months/years. You'll certainly see things you will not experience in any where/place.We supervise about ten teams of home-based care volunteers and also run training weeks for new volunteers. In addition we visit schools, youth groups, community groups and churches with HIV/AIDS awareness presentations. At present we offer : ·
HIV/AIDS Awareness in schools and youth groups · Home-based care of HIV infected and affected people · Mobile clinics in remote, rural communities · Development of high-income cash crops · Micro-enterprise groups · Provision of healthcare, education and daycare centres for orphaned and vulnerable children · Assistance for widows and street dwellers · Patient advocacy in local hospitals · Alternative income projects for those involved in brewing illicit alcohol, as part of a broader campaign against alcoholism, and · Gender equality programmes. VOLUNTARY WORK OFFERED Medical Internships (Primary healthcare and Tropical medicine) Rural business development specialists Pre-med placements Agriculturalists Teachers (primary and secondary) in ESL and science in particular Lay volunteers to help with administration and ancillary clinical work Any persons willing to give schools presentations or to work as patient helpers in hospitals. Placements are ideally for a minimum of three months (with two weeks off mid-placement for independent travel in Kenya). However, we will consider well qualified volunteers for periods as short as four weeks. Most volunteer placements are for periods under six months, but some can be for up to two years. As the project works year-round, volunteers are accepted at any time subject to space being available. Placements are at the WEPOGA base in Bungoma or with community groups . All volunteers work in the community. There is no language requirement other than a need to be able to communicate in English. Accommodation is in African-style houses, in rural areas is often more basic. Bungoma is a substantial town with a reasonable range of stores and eating places. Kakamega, Busia, Webuye and Malaba also offer some scope for shopping. Otherwise, most Western volunteers will find some of their needs hard to fill in the smaller market centers. Food and accommodation is provided for a basic cost of $50.00 (or the equivalent Kshs 3800) per week . However, Kenya wins no prizes for gastronomy and many volunteers occasionally find need for a "big city fix" in terms of a pizza or burger in one of the two main cities within two hours’ drive – Eldoret or Kisumu. Help is offered to obtain an appropriate visa and airport pick-up is free from either Kisumu or Eldoret airports, which are connected by daily flights to Nairobi International. Pick-up from Nairobi is arranged, but costs about $120.00. Every volunteer is linked to an established expert and to a local family. WEPOGA does charge its volunteers anything to participate in its programmes. However, we do not pay salaries either. The costs with which we invite volunteers to assist are any of the following: · Helping to buy fuel for project vehicles when serving the community · Purchase of pharmaceuticals available easily at the volunteer’s home · Provision of old, serviceable equipment not currently needed at the volunteer’s school, hospital or place of work ETC We estimate that a volunteer needs about $350 per month to live comfortably whilst working with us, including accommodation, food, project assistance, and spending money. This excludes travel costs beyond Western Kenya. Initial expressions of interest should be addressed to Stephen and should include the following information: · Name, address, email address · Age · Type of work volunteer wants to do · Qualifications to do that work · Experience, if any, of Africa or of work in any other developing economy · Length of time volunteer is available and when In case of medical students or interns, kindly also include: · Medical/clinical specialty · Where studying (if applicable) · Is this placement regarded by your med school as part of your clinical placement or rotation? · Would our Clinical Director be expected to provide a report of your work here? In case of teachers: · How long have you taught? · What is the largest class you have taught on a regular basis? · What grades do you teach · What subjects do you teach If you have a strong religious belief it would be useful to know what it is, as Western Kenya is a heavily church-going community, with a significant Islamic minority. Finally, remember Western Kenya is one of Sub-Saharan Africa’s poorest regions. Infrastructure is very poor. The average rural family earns under $3 per month. Consequently, be patient. Internet access is patchy, at best. We’ll get back to you just as soon as we can, but it likely will not be as quickly as you would like. Hope to hear from you.

WEPOGA KENYA

WESTERN PROVINCE ORGANIC GROWERS’ ALLIANCE (WEPOGA) OF KENYA


The Western Province Organic Growers’ Alliance (WEPOGA) of Kenya was founded by local, smallholder farmers in 2002.

MISSION STATEMENT WEPOGA is committed to building sustainable farming communities through organic agriculture.

WE ARE: an alliance of smallholder farmers with over 300 active members across 12 regional communities. WEPOGA is active the in villages surrounding Bungoma and its’ neighboring Districts.

OUR VISION is to empower smallholder farmers by reducing their dependence upon expensive artificial inputs, at the same time as raising their incomes by introducing them to alternative cash crops, markets and cooperative selling. By raising incomes through its capacity building programs, WEPOGA will help farming communities to reinvest in their social and economic development.

OUR STRATEGY is to reduce the incidence of poverty among smallholder farmers in the Western Province by:

· Reducing their dependence upon expensive, artificial inputs such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides by introducing them to organic farming techniques such as composting, intercropping, crop rotation, double digging, integrated pest management and creating organic pesticides.
· Diversifying their production of cash crops with a greater earning potential than maize and sugar cane.
· Increasing their food security by encouraging them to establish kitchen gardens to supplement their family’s meals.
· Increasing their incomes by assisting farmers to gain access to the price premiums available for organic produce in other regions of Kenya and overseas.
· Establishing cooperative planting and harvesting agreements amongst WEPOGA members, so as to maintain a constant supply and therefore price for their produce.
· Expanding the market for organic produce in the Western Province of Kenya by networking with the major purchasers of agricultural products in the region, and by distributing promotional major purchasers of agricultural products in the region, and by distributing promotional material outlining the health benefits of eating organic food. ·Reducing the health risks caused by the environmental pollution that results from the over use chemical fertilizers and pesticides. .Sponsoring farmers to attend training courses at registered educational institutions so that they can further their knowledge and expertise of modern production techniques, marketing strategies and other important business skills. ·Encouraging farmers to reinvest the dividend they’ve gained from organic farming in their children’s higher education, and therefore in the future social and economic development of their local community and Western Province.

WHY ORGANIC PRODUCTION IS BETTER FOR WESTERN PROVINCE FARMERS

1. Artificial methods are expensive. Pesticides and fertilizers cost farmers more than 3500 shillings per year. At the same time, reduced soil fertility as a result of the overuse of fertilizers and monocropping has delivered farmers steadily declining yields, and shrinking incomes. The only solution is to switch to organic farming. Not only are natural methods much cheaper, they are more effective than artificial chemicals at returning nutrients to the soil.Organic farming involves utilising materials that are readily found around the home and farm: egg shells, animal droppings, local plants, and kitchen wastes.

2. Pesticides and fertilizers are dangerous for our health. Spraying chemicals on crops means that they remain on the food we eat, get carried on the air we breathe, and seep into the water we drink. They can cause miscarriages for pregnant women, brain damage in children, and even sickness in adults. Organic farming, through the production of food free from contamination by harmful chemicals, can greatly help reduce these health problems in the Western Province.

3. Artificial chemicals are harmful to the environment. Non-organic chemicals have a negative impact upon plant and animal life, in addition to bleaching farmers’ soils of nutrients.

4. The market for organic products is growing worldwide. Not only is demand increasing for organic fruits and vegetables overseas, but here in Kenya. While organic farming is relatively new to Western Kenya, organic production has been thriving in Central and Eastern Kenya for almost 20 years. As a result, the potential for ongoing income growth for organic farmers in the Western Province is almost limitless.

WHY FARMERS IN WESTERN PROVINCE NEED TO DIVERSIFY THEIR PRODUCTION:-

80 per cent of families in rural Kenya depend upon farming for their welfare. The average farm size is less than three acres. An overwhelming proportion of farmers in Western Province grow sugar cane as their only cash crop. As a result, there is a serious over supply of this product, driving down prices and family incomes. In recent years production has been falling, including a 9 per cent reduction in 2004, despite a marginal increase in the area committed to sugar cane (2 per cent extra in 2004). This decline illustrates the impact of increasingly poor soils on farm production in Western Province. The extensive use of chemical fertilizers over the last three decades to increase productivity per acre in Western Province has helped to denude much of the soil of nutrients, contributing to declining yields. Sugarcane takes two years to mature and generally it yields a maximum of 50000 KSh per acre, the equivalent of $658 US, or $329 per year. In 2003, a new cane pricing procedure reduced the price paid to farmers from 2,015 Kenyan Shillings per ton to just 1,800 – a drop of almost ten per cent. In addition, the Kenyan Government has recently introduced A 7 per cent tax excise on all farmers producing sugar cane. As a result, sugar cane has become increasingly uneconomical for small farmers in the Western Province, and an over reliance on it has contributed to a declining standard of living among the families in farming communities in Western Province. Subsequently, the average per capita income in Western Province is the lowest of all Kenya’s provinces at just 11,191 Kenyan Shillings per year. In comparison, the average annual income in Nairobi is some 78,644 Kenyan Shillings per year.The only solution to this confluence of economic and environmental decline is to assist local farmers to diversify by switching to the organic production of a new set of cash crops. WEPOGA is slowly empowering local farmers with the knowledge that there are alternatives to selling sugar cane, including products such as hot peppers, sweet potatoes, Soya beans and sunflowers. Hot peppers, for example, can be harvested after only 3 months. The Horticultural Development Programme (HDP) of USAID has been working in Kenya for the past year to assist farmers in finding export markets, and currently guarantees 150 Kshs per kilogram of certified organic hot peppers for sale in Germany, Holland and Japan. Over the same period, therefore, a farmer producing an average of 300-400 kilograms of hot peppers per year on a three-acre plot can double his income, relative to that earned from sugar cane, to around 90,000-120,000 Kenyan shillings. WEPOGA also educates its members and farmers participating in workshops, about the importance of including a kitchen garden on their land. Food security and improved nutrition among the local population is an important goal of the organization. Crops such as cassava, millet, sukumawiki and black nightshade, beans and tomatoes provide a rich supplement to the diets of farming families.

ORGANIC FARMING IS SIMPLY NATURAL

Through its organic farming workshops and field schools, WEPOGA demonstrates the basic principles and techniques of natural farming. Organic fertilizer can be produced from composting a mixture of farm and household wastes: kitchen wastes, dry leaves, grass, maize stalks, soil, eggshells, animal droppings and kitchen ash.Organic pesticides are similarly made from items easily found around or on the farm: Sodom apples, bitter mung'ulie leaves, red onions, kitchen ash and hot peppers. Techniques such as intercropping

—planting local plants such as the gravilia trees mixed in with your crops

—can return nitrogen to the soil, while feeding your livestock as well. In addition, by alternating the crops grown on a given plot, soil can be made more productive and fertile without the use of chemicals.In addition, by alternating the crops grown on a given plot

– crop rotation

- the diversity of plant matter can return nutrients to the soil, increasing its productivity.Integrated Pest Management is another important strategy for improving crop yield without relying upon artificial farm inputs. Introducing natural predators such as praying mantises and ladybugs can help control pests, while birds and insects can are diverted by planting Desmodium seeds

– a locally found resource

– in a neighboring area. Desmodium seed are also useful for controlling striga weed and for returning nitrogen to soil. Paper bag scarecrows are also useful for scaring away potentially destructive birds: paper bags tied to trees or posts move when blown by the wind, creating the illusion that someone is guarding the fields.By double digging soil beds

– removing and rotating two feet of soil, thereby breaking the clay pan and enabling crop roots to reach greater depths and more nutrients

– farmers can improve their soil productivity and allow closer spacing of vegetables.By teaching farmers the techniques utilized successfully by so many previous generations and demonstrating some new ones, WEPOGA works to empower smallholder farmers from the Western Province of Kenya to improve the sustainability of their farms, their families and their communities.

WORKING WITH WEPOGA

WEPOGA travels across Western Province conducting farmer workshops and field schools to educate interested communities about organic farming techniques. We also provide marketing support for producers of organic cash crops, and assist with the supply of organic inputs and information. Farmers who have participated in WEPOGA’s field schools and work shops are then encouraged to join with their others from their local communities in organic farming cooperatives. By farming cooperatively, inputs like animal manure for fertilizer and hot peppers for pesticides can be shared among the community. Farmers are then invited to request follow up visits to their farms by WEPOGA’s educators for an additional consultation. WEPOGA is also actively networking with organisations marketing and purchasing organic produce in Western Kenya and overseas, in an effort to increase farmer incomes. Members of WEPOGA meet once every month to share information about organic farming, and to cooperatively plan their planting and harvesting seasons so as to reduce competition.

THE WEPOGA COMMUNITY

WEPOGA is looking for partners to help expand its education and marketing operations through the establishment of a permanent demonstration plot and learning centre, office and storage facilities.