‘Green’ in the ‘Brown’: A possibility

Picture a large green space right in the middle of a desert. I bet you’d brush this aside as a figment of imagination. The reality in this day and age is that what we hold as fact has many times been challenged and the opposite here is true.

Nakukulas, Turkana County

It is possible to have that ‘green space’ in reality – a reality that describes Nakukulas located in the middle of Turkana County. This is a 3-acre communal property that has been transformed to become a source of livelihood for the community. The transformation begun in 2017 under the stewardship of Barefoot Soulutions who started by installing tree nurseries and vegetable propagation units at the site. The piece of land is currently filled with an agro-forest, demonstration beds, wastewater systems, a wormery and compost area.

When the Organix team⁺ was invited to visit the site 300 miles from Nairobi the staff were not prepared for what they saw. They experienced the full measure of how well someone can develop an area that was otherwise nonproductive. The mission was to demonstrate how Organix products can be used for crop, disease and pest management.

Barefoot Soulutions had previously visited Organix in Nairobi to learn about their products and see how they could be used on their agricultural project. Sven talks about this here. Barefoot Soulutions’ projects are based on principles and ethics of ‘permaculture’, an agricultural ecosystem where people contribute and are actively involved in the production of food and other necessities for daily living. Their focus is on ‘resilient designs and technology that are ecologically sound and financially viable’ (www.barefootsoulutions.com).

The Organix team arrived at Kapese on the morning of Monday 16th April. The team which consisted of Aasit, Arjun and Dipti were well received and driven to Nakukulas for a full site tour by Ivan, Sven and Jess. To say that we were blown away by what we saw is an understatement. One could easily forget that this is in the middle of a region that is known to be among the driest in the country.

Pictures speak………….

Demonstrations on how to apply Organix products namely: – Asilee, Earthlee, Nhance, Oxin and Absorber were done on day two. Led by Aasit, the hosts and members of the Nakukulas community were taken through the steps on how to prepare soil mix for grow bags, prepare garden beds and plant trees.

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On day three, we had to leave despite the strong sentimental attachment that each one of us had developed. The entire experience opened our eyes to the possibilities of having “productive Farming in the middle of a desert’. It is a challenge to us, that a small piece of land can be transformed in less than a year using what nature provides. Can we not replicate this in other parts of the country?

Food for thought…

^#Barefoot Soulutions Team

Ivan Lieman, Co-Founder; Sven Verwiel, Co-Founder; Jess De Boer, Lead Permaculture Manager

⁺Organix Limited team

Aasit Shah, Director, Organix Limited; Dipti Fernandes, Director, Cresco Skills Development; Arjun Vidyarthi , Director, Urban Farmer, Kenya