Wakulima Pamoja: Farmers Together

Njabini is a small farming community in the foothills of the Aberdare mountain range in Kenya’s Central Province.  The land is beautifully quilted with patchwork of green farms; agriculture defines the economic and social cultures of the region. Over 85% of the local population derive their entire income from farming. While the river-fed soils hold incredible potential, the majority of farmers live in poverty.  Why? Because families often have,

• Insufficient capital to invest in quality inputs such as seeds, manure, humus, etc.
• Lack of technical training in commercial farming practices
• Inefficient and poor market access

So here's how we'll do it.

NJABINI's latest program, Wakulima Pamoja, meaning Farmers Together in Kiswahili, organizes poor families into producer groups and provides a 'service bundle' to each group; high quality inputs, extensive training, and market linkages.  These services help families greatly decrease the cost of planting their crops, minimize crop-failure risk, and increase the productivity of their land – greatly increasing the profitability of their farms each harvest season.  

Our service bundle includes three core services:

Inputs:

Farmers Together producer groups coordinate collective input purchases for a ¼ acre of land per member.  We purchase inputs collectively, achieving an initial 26% price discount, and lend the inputs to each member on credit.  This allows farmers to access the highest quality inputs, while also saving money and greatly reducing the amount of money spent on inputs.  Farmers do not receive the loan in cash, they receive the actual seeds, fertilizer, and manure.  

Training

Farmers Together conducts ongoing financial and crop management trainings.  Financial trainings focus on the importance of savings, creating a budget, record keeping, and debt management. These trainings are coordinated with our crop rotation schedule and members are contracted to follow the crop management practices from land preparation to post-harvest management.  By implementing the best crop management practices, farmers increase their crop production while practicing safe and environmentally friendly techniques that preserve their nitrogen soil content.  Crop trainings are performed in Njabini, Inc.’s training facility and on our demonstration plot and are carried out by our partner the Agriculture Training Center.

Groups follow a crop rotation schedule based on market fluctuations and climate patterns. Groups harvest collectively allowing them to produce enough crop to economically bypass brokers and reach wholesalers directly, thus achieving a higher price point. 

This program will allow farmers to access the highest quality inputs at a 26% discount, increase their production on average 50%, and increase the money earned on their farm by up to 450%.