In the Shrubs for Change project, 300 ‘trainers of trainers’ learn how to get more milk from dairy cows by feeding them nutritious leaves from shrubs. These trainers will in turn train and support 120,000 dairy farmers in Kenya and Malawi to start growing shrubs in their own gardens. Research has...

Food insecurity and reduced food sovereignty is rampant in Kenya. This can be attributed to a new era of industrial agriculture resulting in genetic erosion of local crops, monoculture, high seed prices, and excessive use of chemicals. As a remedy, Kenya Seed Savers Network empowers farming communities to develop a...

“Strengthening the Livelihoods Resilience of Pastoral and Agropastoral Communities in South Sudan’s Cross-border Areas with Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda” is a three-year project funded by European Union that aims to improve governance and conflict prevention to reduce forced displacement and irregular migration in the cross-border areas of South Sudan....

Traders tend to be regarded as exploitative towards producers even without knowledge of their businesses. This study examines marketing costs, net-profits and return to invested capital of small ruminant traders from Marsabit County. Based on 84 transactions made between 2014 and 2016, we found low average profits and a high...

The Organic Agriculture Centre of Kenya (OACK) saw that by providing the right skills, information and support, they could help small-scale farmers move away from subsistence farming and into thriving livelihoods that improve their local communities and the landscapes they live in. 

Dried mango crisps are a tasty and a healthy snack that can be sold even out of season at a good price.

With their ability to mobilise 1.5 billion smallholder producers, forest and farm producer organisations (FFPOs) can help drive a paradigm shift away from large-scale monocultural systems, which are vulnerable to climate change and highly inequitable. FFPO businesses embody greater diversity and equity, pursuing market opportunities for a diverse basket of...

Over the past week Slow Food and Hivos have provided the delegates with the necessary tools for continuing advocacy work in their own countries. Though teachers play a great role in enabling students and giving them confidence to plan and execute future actions, the  outcomes are dependent on the students...

Purity Karemi didn’t plan on becoming a farmer. The 25-year-old went to university in Nairobi to get a degree in procurement and management, and both she and her family expected she would stay on in the bustling city. But an FAO training changed all of that.

For rural youth, many of the opportunities available locally are in agriculture, but young people often view this sector as tedious, risky, low-income and generally, not a worthwhile pursuit. They prefer to migrate to larger cities in the hopes of finding a better life.  To directly address these issues, FAO is...

Low agricultural production and low household incomes mean that food security in the northwest of Kenya and the southeastern part of South Sudan continues to be a challenge. With smallholder producers and small and medium-sized entrepreneurs often marginalized and excluded from access to markets at national and regional levels, there...

aWhere delivers agricultural intelligence to farmers, farm managers, crop consultants and researchers all over the world. The company aims at making agronomic and weather data available to farmers through intermediaries such as research centers, governments, information companies, mobile network operators and non profit organizations which can integrate the data into...

In semi-arid areas in Kenya, FAO is supporting smallholder farmers to increase yield of high-value grain like sorghum and to market their produce as group. Purity Njeru has seen firsthand how this program has improved lives and livelihoods.

The factsheet gives some highlights of the impact of FFF support in Kenya, as well as some achievements by the numbers, and some lessons learnt. Summary of the impact in Kenya: •46 percent to 65 percent jump in average incomes for hundreds of thousands of forest and farm producers through strengthened Forest and Farm...

More and more farmers in some of the poorest areas of southern and central Kenya are working their land and selling their produce as a group, based on agreements with buyers. This way of farming gives poor farmers more negotiating and market power, and helps them better plan what and...

Mainly grown in the highlands of Kenya, potatoes are an important staple food and cash crop and play a significant role in national food security, nutrition, poverty alleviation and income generation. In 2015, Potato Cyst Nematode (PCN) was first detected and confirmed in Kenya, posing a serious threat to potato...

Recurrent drought, degraded rangelands and reduced access to traditional grazing lands have left pastoral communities in the Horn of Africa’s arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) more vulnerable and facing severe livestock feed shortages. During dry spells, pastoral communities suffer from food and nutrition insecurity, as well as shrinking incomes occasioned...

For centuries, farmers, herders, fishers and foresters have developed diverse and locally adapted agricultural systems managed with time tested, ingenious techniques. These practices have resulted in a vital combination of social, cultural, ecological and economic services to humankind. “Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems” (GIAHS) are outstanding landscapes of aesthetic beauty...

The Smallholder Farmers’ Dataportrait of the ESA Small Family Farms Team is a comprehensive, systematic and standardized data set on the profile of smallholder farmers, bringing out the characteristics of family farms across the world. It is designed in such a way that differences between countries and regions can be...

Agriculture is the mainstay of the Kenyan economy and contributes over 45 percent of government revenue. The agricultural sector is the largest employer, representing 60 percent of total employment. Overall, approximately 80 percent of rural women are employed in agriculture. However, the percentage of agricultural land held by women remains...