Greenland farmers learn the secrets of the dryland

By Joe Ombuor

The saying "move out of your mother’s kitchen to know how other foods taste" assumed a stunning reality to a group of elders, farmers, teachers and community leaders from a Kericho village who toured drought prone Ukambani recently.

The 35 men and 30 women travelled 400 kilometres from the lush and fecundity of Torsogek village in Kericho to see how their brothers and sisters survive where rivers hardly flow with water and mother earth gives but grudgingly to a population hankering for more. "We were staggered by their sheer resilience and survival instincts in an environment short of everything but God’s free air and sunshine. They stunned us with their determination to make the most of resources that pale in comparison with what we have back home," says Mzee John Kipkech Ruto, a tea, dairy and sugarcane farmer.

GOATS THRIVE

"Their goats thrive in the lean and scraggy conditions, yet produce the tastiest of meat. They hardly have milk in their guards or maize in their granaries or much cash in their pockets, but they keep smiling and plodding on with confidence, saying education is their granary and bank," he marvels.

"But what moved us most was their hardworking spirit despite all the odds they have to grapple with to survive and their determination to make the best out of their children. Those are attributes we shall carry back home to our people," says Ruto, a father of nine.

The Kericho delegation marvelled to come across a people who sell soil (meaning sand) for the lack of nothing better to make money or rely on ill watered fruit crops for income-yet they have more children in school and colleges. "We are endowed with nearly everything, but were surprised to learn that children in the deprived areas we visited score better results in examinations because they have made school and education their number one priority," says Torsogek Primary School Headmaster Samuel Boen.

For him the trip was a learning session on how cooperation and unity of purpose between teachers and parents can contribute to academic excellence in schools. "We found parents who appreciate teachers and are ready to sacrifice all that they have for the good of their schools.