Ace Africa submitted in March 2016 its report on the second year of its three-year project in Bungoma county, western Kenya. The project aims to train 60 women’s community groups (1,200 women, 4,800 members of their households and 15,600 of their wider community) in sustainable agriculture, nutrition practices and income-generating activities in order to improve their food, nutritional and economic security.
During the second year, the organisation implemented community nutrition awareness days, training in high-value nutritive crops and improved nutritional practices, goat and poultry rearing (including provision of start-up goats and poultry), training in new agricultural methods and improved agricultural practices. Food, nutritional and economic security increased at household and community levels, as a direct result of increased food production. There were 3,546 active gardens in the project area, supporting 20,523 community members with produce from the gardens. The produce was consumed at family level, while the surplus was sold to earn an income. Families were able to afford three meals a day and had the knowledge and ability to preserve the surplus for future use or sale at the market. Parents were paying school fees and buying uniforms for their children, which resulted in lower absenteeism from school. By the end of the second year, over 100 community groups had already been reached, surpassing the original goal of 60. This was achieved at no additional cost, as training requests from neighboring groups were accommodated. Several community groups successfully received loans from local funds, following training in proposal writing. Households initiated small businesses with loans from group or village savings. Food stores, groceries and the sale of milk are some of the ventures started by families, enabling them to earn a living beside their work on farms.
