After more than two years, we - a group of five women – managed to travel to our sisters in Kenya. We, this is Chairlady Anneliese Göller, her deputy Christine Singer, regional representative of Swabia Christiane Ade and the project team, Nathalie Bruno and Angelika Eberl. A week with a packed programme – the rural women's agendas did not allow for more. We drove from Nairobi 138 km Northeast to Embu, the capital of Embu County.
Embu County has vast flat areas where rice is grown.
From left to right: Nathalie Bruno, Christine Singer, Anneliese Göller, our driver Paul, Christiane Ade and Angelika Eberl.
First meeting with representatives from the four new counties: Meru, Embu, Tharaka-Nithi and Muranga.
We were very excited. On June 6th, we met 80 rural women who had taken part in the first courses on Leadership & Governance in the four new counties. The participants spoke enthusiastically about the seminar and their trainer, Daphne Muchai, the Co-founder and managing director of WoFaAK. They would have learned a lot, e.g.: • how to correctly write and apply an association's statutes, • why some groups simply fail, • the importance of good communication • ... and that there are tools to resolve conflicts.
The first seminar was worth it. After the courses, 41 self-help groups and six champions have already joined the WoFaAK, Daphne Muchai reported with justified pride.
One profession - two worlds - Bavarian and Kenyan rural women in Embu
At this meeting, it was important for us to present a) the work of the Bavarian rural women and b) the BBV-LIZ as the organisation that carries out all these trainings on behalf of GIZ or through the financing of BMZ. We presented the work of rural women in the Bavarian Farmers' Association with their broad portfolio, their successes and challenges. "Our fields of activity and actions met with great interest, e.g. how important it is for women to get involved in politics," reports Anneliese Göller. The exchange was very good – the women had a lot of questions about our activities. "We only give inputs, discuss and talk to each other. Under no circumstances do we want to impose anything on them," emphasizes Christiane Ade.
Some active women presented their self-made products for sale. Lemongrass tea, hibiscus tea, jam made from guava, mango or pineapple, honey and various flour mixtures.
National Rural Women's Day of WoFaAK on 8 and 9 June 2022 in Embu
Daphne Muchai and her team wanted to offer both exchange and knowledge transfer for the first national WoFaAK meeting. They have succeeded very well. 50 volunteers of the WoFaAK from all active counties were invited. For the first day, the national WoFaAK board organized a field day at KALRO (Kenyan Agricultural Livestock Research Organization) in Embu. You can compare it with our Bavarian State Research Centre for Agriculture. We were warmly welcomed by Dr. Alfred Micheni, the director of KALRO in Embu. The site, including the dairy farm, covers an area of 70 hectares.
Third from left: Dr. Alfred Micheni, Director of KALRO in Embu.
The event was very well received. Technical information provided by the employees of KALRO and other invited companies or organizations (including the University of Embu on the extraction of essential oil from lemongrass) created a lot to talk about and exchange. New contacts were made, cultivated planting material, such as grafted seedlings, were acquired, and the first agreements on future cooperation were concluded.
Students of Embu University demonstrate the distillation of essential oil from lemongrass.
Caren Odhiambo, the chairwoman of the WoFaAK in Siaya, reacted immediately and asked the staff of the University of Embu: How much lemongrass do you need? I can sell it to you. "They want to move forward with all their might. That impressed me," said Christine Singer happily.
New sweet potato varieties are presented (above) or a cooker that runs on ethanol (below)
KALRO employees explain the experimental set-up of a water-saving arrowroot culture. The carbohydrate-rich root is used as food. Most of the participants from Western Kenya were in Embu for the first time and were impressed by this progressive county. The new contacts among the women from the different regions will certainly bear fruit. On the second day, we met with the 50 delegates for an "associational" exchange. After many "new" women were present, we presented our portfolio again.
In 2018, the first meetings with the Kenyan rural women took place with Ms. Göller, Ms. Singer and Ms. Ade in Western Kenya. Since then, Kenyan women farmers have made a lot of progress. "This is really very impressive," said Christiane Ade. At the beginning, the main aim was to strengthen the self-confidence of the women, "because they are actually the ones who secure the income of the families," added Christine Singer. Esther Wanyoni from Bungoma said that she didn't dare to say much because she was shy, she couldn't even say her name out loud. At first, she was really shaking in the training sessions – but now after the training, she stands there and tells the political representatives what her group needs. For a few months now, she has been able to get a job with her community because of our training.
"Education moves – you can't stress it enough," added Anneliese Göller, a state farmer. The women feel better represented. They sit on committees of the county government and thus obtain important information at an early stage. In addition, the rural women take their lives into their own hands, produce and market together, e.g. sweet potatoes and can pay the school fees for their children.
Graduation photo of all rural women in Embu. Back in Nairobi, we introduced ourselves and our project to Armin Klöckner, the new Programme Director for Agriculture at GIZ. Mr. Klöckner gave us an insightful insight into the work in development cooperation. Finally, we ended up with German agricultural policy and where to start. For the first time we visited the office of WoFaAK. It is located opposite the large slums of Kibera. A non-profit organization that takes care of the residents of Kibera has made a room available to WoFaAK.
Through our project, material resources were acquired for the state office of the WoFaAK: three desks including office chairs, a filing cabinet, a shelf, two visitor chairs, three notebooks and a camera. This was officially handed over to the WoFaAK by state farmer Anneliese Göller.
Chairlady Anneliese Göller signs the handover protocol, behind her Daphne Muchai.
Summary of our delegation:
ONE profession - TWO worlds - and the SAME motivation.
We'll stay tuned.
