Economic Growth

USAID Helps Dairy Farmers Fuel Economic Growth in Kenya through Cooperatives

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Date Published: 
October 16, 2012
Two Kenyan men pouring milk in a container

Mary Rono used to fit the mold of the archetypal Kenyan dairy farmer. The 56 year old retired government social worker gone dairy farmer and full time mother, living in the village of Kibomet in Kenya’s Rift Valley, would milk the family’s herd of eight cows once a day. If an informal trader happened to pass by, she might sell the milk for a mere 18 shillings (or 22 cents) per liter. This, and the sale of vegetables from her garden, generated her only cash income.

From Girls to Agricultural Leaders

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Young women are transforming their lives through the Village-Based Advisor Program
Date Published: 
October 9, 2012
Young Kenyan girl and boy showing off the vegetables in their farm

“I missed whole school terms because there was no money to pay the fees," says 22-year old Dorcas Nyangasi, from Emuhaya, Western Kenya. "I saw my parents struggle and I wanted to reduce the burden on them. Like many young girls in the village, I thought about marriage as a way out,” she says.  Now, thanks to an innovative agriculture program, Dorcas is successfully self-employed providing farm inputs and training to local farmers.

Project puts favorite food back on table

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Project puts favorite food back on table
Date Published: 
October 4, 2012
Eunice Njoki proudly displays the key ingredient of mukimo, grown on her farm

Eunice Njoki is happy that she can eat her favorite meal of mukimo again.  She is from Mang’u village.  Mukimo is a traditional Kenyan dish made from mashed potatoes, boiled maize and vegetable leaves.

New potato variety resists disease in Nakuru, Kenya

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New potato variety resists disease in Nakuru, Kenya
Date Published: 
October 4, 2012
Ruth Wanjiru on the thriving Kenya mpya Irish potato plot

Ruth Wanjiru, a farmer from Nakuru, tried to grow Irish potatoes for many years, but the crop failed to perform well on her farm.  Eventually, she resorted to buying potatoes from the local market, to feed her family of four.

Mobile Technology Links Rural Potato Farmers to the Urban Market

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A free SMS service to help Narok farmers
Date Published: 
September 27, 2012
A Kenyan potato farmer uses his mobile phone to sell potatoes to urban buyers

SOKOSHAMBANI's innovative approach to small-scale potato farming in Kenya is being featured this week at the Africa Green Revolution Forum (AGRF2012) which is being hosted by Dr. Kofi Annan in Arusha, Tanzania.

CELEBRATING VALUE GIRLS

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USAID Celebrates These Courageous Young Women
Date Published: 
September 24, 2012
Value Girl and USAID

You may be Value Girls, but you’ve always been girls of value,” says Julie Gichuru, the face of Kenyan TV and among one of 20 African women named by Forbes magazine as shaping Africa.  Julie is not talking to the high profile development executives, or the senior government officers that fill up the ballroom – she is talking to the Value Girls. 

INVESTING IN KENYA

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Date Published: 
November 13, 2012

[PHOTO : Karen Freeman, Mission Director, USAID/Kenya]

Disease Resistant Cassava Increases Yields and Builds Resilience

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Village Based Advisors Help Thier Neighbors Grow More Cassava
Date Published: 
September 5, 2012
A woman farmer stands proudly in her cassava plot in Kenya

“The last time I harvested big cassava roots was in August 1996”, says Mary Juma, a smallholder farmer from Busia, in Western Kenya.

Update from the field: Horticulture

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July 2012 Report
Date Published: 
August 25, 2012
A smiling Kenyan woman farmer displays her red chillies

Meet the Sukuma Wiki Youth Group -- they're made kale their business. Check out the farmers in Bomet who are growing an improved variety of potatoes and selling them to a chips factory. Demand is up for chillies and passion fruit. Learn about this and more in the Kenya Horticulture Competitiveness project report from the field.

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