Pokotom Primary School pupils weeding. [FAO/Luis Tato].
It’s 1545 at Pokotom Primary School, Turkana. The pupils are sitting in the assembly, and as soon as it ends, the members of the Junior Farmer Field and Livestock Schools (JFFLS) run to the school garden. The cowpeas, amaranth, pumpkin and collard greens are looking very healthy despite the intense sun.
The pupils get busy weeding. ="https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/farmkenya/article/2001333033/how-to-prepare-oasis-garden-ideal-for-urban-dwellers">On this particular occasion,< there’s no need to water the crops because Turkana has just received two days of substantial rainfall. To keep the produce from being dried out by the scorching sun, a ="https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/farmkenya/article/2001371472/starting-your-home-vegetable-garden">section of the crops are grown under< shade nets, while the other under the shade of the neem trees.
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This is part of the training that the Junior Farmer Field School received from FAO, in partnership with The Reuben Center, and finding from the European Union. Under the patronage of Madam Sarah Terigim, JFFLS’s goal is to make agriculture attractive to young people, promote better nutrition as well as to change the attitude that it is impossible to grow food in Turkana. This was an uphill task, considering that the Turkana="https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/farmkenya/smart-harvest/article/2001364080/five-ways-to-control-pests-in-your-garden"> people are traditionally pastoralists<.
“After a one week training by FAO, I sensitized the teachers and parents on the importance to start a Junior Farmer Field and Livestock School club. I then registered 66 students from class four, five and six,” said Madam Sarah.
The community around the school has since gotten wind of the organic produce being grown in the school, and regularly come to purchase. [FAO/Luis Tato].
Turkana is hot and dry, and access to water for irrigation is a huge challenge. To navigate this problem, Pokotom Primary uses run-off water from the central hand-washing area, which is piped and directed to the school garden.
Since inception in 2018, the school garden has not only imparted on the pupils Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) such as mulching, irrigation, crop rotation and crop diversification, it has also succeeded in creating a new mindset on how important if not profitable farming is.
“I started in class four, and this club has taught me so much about farming. Before joining JFFLS, I used to think that farming is a lost venture. But after seeing how much vegetable we have been able to grow, how much money we have been able to make from the sale of vegetables, I am now convinced that farming is good,” said Godfrey Lekiru, the prefect of the JFFLS club.
Each member has a plot of land in the school garden where they grow assorted vegetables. Since they started, they have cowpeas, spinach, amaranth, okra, mrenda, moringa, tomatoes, onions and pumpkins.
Part of this training included chicken rearing. ="https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/farmkenya/article/2001365026/your-guide-to-starting-simple-kitchen-garden">FAO introduced improved
