In many rural areas of Kenya, the fight against malnutrition is not only fought in clinics; it begins directly by tilling the soil. In Samburu County, community gardens represent a vital resource to ensure families have access to fresh, nutritious food, transforming into true strongholds of health and resilience.
Recently, the "Lishe Bora Maisha Bora" project team visited the Laurage community garden—a reality born from the community itself to improve access to fresh vegetables and create new income opportunities.
Today, among the rows tended by more than 20 families, cabbages, spinach, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, watermelons, and pumpkins are growing. This variety is a concrete response to a specific need: diversifying the local diet, which is too often monotonous and lacking in essential micronutrients.
Furthermore, the garden does not just fill plates; it creates surplus produce that families can sell, generating a valuable local micro-economy.
Listening to Needs to Cultivate Skills
During the visit to Laurage, speaking with the farmers highlighted several concrete challenges that slow down the garden's full potential:
- Land preparation to optimize water resources, which are crucial in an arid climate;
- Limited availability of quality seeds and proper agricultural tools;
- Need for continuous support regarding both sustainable farming techniques and good nutritional practices.
To address these challenges in a structured way, the project will launch a series of specific training courses on home gardening. The key to this intervention will be an integrated approach: agronomy lessons will go hand in hand with the dissemination of key messages on maternal and child health and correct hygienic-nutritional practices.
The ultimate long-term goal goes far beyond a single harvest. It is about strengthening families' skills, improving the nutritional status of children during their first, crucial 1,000 days of life, and building communities capable of resisting climatic and economic shocks.
This intervention is made possible thanks to the funding of the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers with the 8x1000 Irpef quota
