An Overview Of Our Solution
The Kenya Organic Oil Farmers Association is a small-scale farmer’s producer group of over 650 members based around the arid areas of Mount Kenya regions namely Kieni (Nyeri County), Laikipia East and Timau (Meru county) and registered in 2007 to promote growing of organic tea trees and other essential oils products. Currently around over 500acres is under permanent cover of tea trees which are between two and ten years old. The tree has a life span of twenty five years. The group has a contractual agreement with Earth Oil Extracts to produce Organic and “Fair for Life” (a Fair-Trade standard and certification system) tea trees for essential oil extraction. The group is community based and has mixed membership including women and youth. Each member has between 1-3 acres of land on which they grow a mix of food crops and essential oil crops.
Who is this solution impacting?
Community Type
Rural
Additional Information
- Population Impacted:
- Continent: Africa
General Information
Organization type
Corporation
Ecosystem (select all that apply)
Grasslands
Population impacted
More than 700 families
Challenge
Size of agricultural area
500 Acres
Production quantity
1,742,100 Kgs of biomass
People employed
32
Solution
Describe your solution
The farmers were organized with help of the Earthoil Plantations in UK to establish an outgower group to supply organic essential oil crops. It was not easy for the company directors to organize the farmers into such groups. There was resistance at first since there were other groups that had been set up only to end up with produced goods lacking the market and thus creating losses to farmers. The training of farmers and monitoring officers on Organic production system with help of the Kenya Organic Agriculture Network made it faster to integrate the knowledge to farmers and created awareness on importance of not only its economic benefits but also health and environment conservation benefits.
The objective of the group was to address the above challenges by introducing new crops that would:
- Improve food production while maintaining soil fertility
- Provide a long-term sustainable source of income
- Make the farming group sustainable and enhance decision making
- Enhance both genders and working age groups participance
Implementation
Describe your implementation
The Earthoil Company management had done agronomical research and had found that the arid region was endowed with good bigger lands with fertile soils though limited with supply of water and rains. They found that various crops that are tolerant to drought and resistance to pests and diseases would be an added advantage to spur growth of the most low income earners members in the community. The area does not have any other cash crop that members would depend on for a living.
The group started growing borage that did well on the farmers’ farms but failed on harvesting seasons. This was due to birds’ attack and seed loss before harvesting. This created losses and meant use of machinery to harvest. This would have meant more costs.
During this period the company had established alternative essential crops on trials that would safeguard death knell of the project. Some of the crops was tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) that is indigenous to Australian environment but which proved a viable crop in the area. The contracted group (KOOFA) that had grown to 350 farmers by the year 2008 was given seedlings on credited by the company. The technical support on growing the crop was and is being carried out by KOAN and Earthoil Organic Internal Control System (ICS).
External connections
The technical support on growing the crop was and is being carried out by the Kenyan Organic Agriculture Network ( KOAN ). In the past we have also received support from USAID- FIRM and USAID- KHCP projects.
We have recently also benn granted CArbonZero certification according to the Gold Standard by promoting the use of efficient gasifier stoves among our farmers and the production of biochar from our waste biomass after distillation. We are now expanding these projects too.
Results
What is the environmental or ecological challenge you are targeting with your solution?
The leeward side of the Mount Kenya, where tea tree is grown, is semi-arid and grassland. The people living here are mainly subsistence small scale farmers while others practice nomadism in the north Laikipia region. The area receives low rainfall below 500mm per year. The area has been faced with various problems related to:
- Food productivity and security
- Failure of crops ( crop relied upon are not resilient to climate change)
- Poor farming practices( along the rivers, water sources)
- Lower levels of household incomes ( few chances are available for employment due to limited productivity assets(land and capital)
- Many youths had moved to Far towns in search of green pastures
Describe the context in which you are operating
The area has been faced with various problems related to:
- Food productivity and security
- Failure of crops ( crop relied upon are not resilient to climate change)
- Poor farming practices( along the rivers, water sources)
- Lower levels of household incomes ( few chances are available for employment due to limited productivity assets(land and capital)
- Many youths had moved to Far towns in search of green pastures
How did you impact natural resource use and greenhouse gas emissions?
a. Increased income and improved standards of living:
Most farmers’ households’ income has increased since the start of the project. This has made many families take their children to school and technical institutions. They have started other diversified income generating projects like poultry, goats and dairy farming enterprises.
b. Farmers’ fields increased soil fertility and yields
Through organic farming systems, the farmers’ soils have maintained their productivity after application of well composted manures, zero cultivation, mulching, cover cropping and intercropping with nitrogen fixing crops like legumes.
c. Conservation of various ecosystems
The holistic organic production by farmers has increased afforestation, enhanced wildlife conservation and reduced pollution. The KOOFA organization is fair trade certified and have been buying water tanks for the members for roof water harvesting and storage of water. This has reduced pressure on the limited commodity and thus can reach many members in far areas. They also use it to do vegetable gardening for home use.
d. Increased community projects relationships
The training of farmers in groups and on overall life dynamics has increased members group solidarity and has led to formation of financial cooperative movement for members to save and borrow for their individual development projects. This has improved individual financial literacy and projects planning.
Language(s)
English, Kswahili
Water
3000 L water tanks are being bought and distributed to every farmer tanks to the Fair Trade development premium
Food Security/Nutrition
The water tanks distributed will make the home vegetable gardens more sustainable.
Economic/Sustainable Development
Farmers can get a Fair and sustainable income for a long term
Climate
Tea tree growing with organic practices has reduced erosion, increased organic mater in the soils and reduce desertification
Sustainability
It doesn't rely on funding. Ours is a business initiative and a production system where the farmers are the drivers of heir own development.
Return on investment
Earthoil pays farmers a fair ‘farm gate price’ based on the costs of production to allow for a decent profit. Such a profit must allow for an equivalent fair ‘income level’. Fair income level refers to an income which is above normal field prices and is made up of a farm gate price plus an organic premium, currently set at 10%. This is the payment the individual farmer receives for their produce. In addition, a further 10% ‘Fair-Trade’/community premium is paid. Farmers decide how the premium is spent into a community project to improve the community life of all in the 8 farming regions that KOOFA is located.
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Replication and Scale
How could we successfully replicate this solution elsewhere?
Whilst Earthoil is extremely keen to grow the size of the farmer group, it also has the knowledge and experience to manage such growth and development carefully by working very closely with its customers, especially in terms of forecasting stable volumes. This growth factor offers the opportunity for more farmers to join the grower group and for existing farmers to increase their acreages of essential oil crops.
The KOOFA organic tea tree growing group has grown now to over 700 members by the year ending 2016, with many of its members increasing acreage due to good climate conditions and sustainable income.
The same model that we have applied in the Mount Kenya area could be expanded to more farmers in the same area or other farmers somewhere else for other products which are in demand in the essential oils and vegetable oil sector.