PROJECT TITLE:

Promoting Composting and Kitchen Gardening for Safe and Sustainable Food
Production in Kagwe, Kiambu County

Training farmers to secure their future

COMMUNITY SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT EMPOWERMENT PROGRAMME (COSDEP)

P.O BOX 132 – 00621, NAIROBI - KENYA
CELL: (254) 722460769
Email: [email protected]
Blog address: http://www.cosdep.wordpress.com
Contact person: Stanley Kinyanjui

Project Amount Requested: Ksh. 1, 052, 100 or USD 13, 150

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Project Title: Promoting Composting and Kitchen Gardening for Safe and Sustainable Food
Production in Kagwe Area

1) Organizational Background
Community Sustainable Development Empowerment Programme (COSDEP) is a registered non-
governmental organization (NGO) that focuses on ensuring continued learning and practice of
organic farming in rural communities for improved food and dietary conditions. The
organization’s main offices are located at Kihara Township, in Kiambu District. It was founded
in 2001 as a farmer’s training programme in Kiambu and became a non-governmental
Organization (NGO) in 2004. Ever since COSDEP has reached out and already working with
farmers in parts of two counties namely Kiambu and Murang’a.

Our Mission Statement:

We are committed to promote sustainable development initiatives among the poor small scale
farmers in Central region through participatory practices

Long term Goal:

Is to build the communities capacity to secure their own food; nutrition and income security at
the household level

Our Values:
COSDEP is guided by the following values: Hard work, Integrity, Team work, Learning,
Growth and Sustainability

Our Current Strategic objectives

1) To equip the farming households including young farmers with the ability to be self reliant
and food/nutrition secured in an ecologically sound way, and where possible to produce
surplus and add value for effective marketing.
2. To ensure that continuity of organic farming practice and information spread through farmer
to farmer learning and interaction is happening extensively in all communities where
COSDEP works.
3. To complement and actively participate in appropriate networks for information exchange
and advocacy at all level
4. To establish COSDEP as a relevant, well organized, motivated and adequately resourced
organization doing high quality work.

History of our work with the farmers

COSDEP has been working with farmers by training and assisting them in adoption of organic
farming skills. This learning has been that farmers come together for easier facilitation of the
training and later carry out common interest activities that will enhance sustainability in food
production, take care of the environment and earn some income for them.
Composting and Kitchen gardening are two principle practices that are very important in organic
agriculture production. The training and subsequent implementation of these two practices will

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facilitate in the achievement of our overall goal which is to build communities capacity to secure
their own food; nutrition and income security at the household level.

3. Our specific goals and specific objectives of the project

Goal: Enhance communities’ nutrition and livelihood security by means of building Kagwe
farmer’s capacity to sustainably manage farm based resources

Specific objectives:

1. Stimulate participatory farmers’ reflection upon their current farming and introduce a more
sustainable; –diversified, low input, local and viable alternative
2. Train 1000 farmers in 50 groups of about 20 in composting and kitchen gardening with
emphasis on sustainability in salutary nutrition production and self reliance.
3. Facilitate group-work and skills-handing over to the community for sustainability by means
of follow ups and encouraging farmer-to-farmer learning and networking even with other
agencies for their socio-economic progress.

Activities

1. Mobilize the farmers Kagwe area;- (Githogoiyo, Kamahindu, Gachoire, Matimbei and
Githirioni) to increase awareness - Organize 20 groups
2. Induct and capacity building -Train 1, 000 farmers in the target area
3. Assist in practical adoption (Post training Follow up)
4. Establish enriched Kitchen Gardens
5. Farmer to farmer learning (Local Exchange visits)
6. Monitoring and Evaluation

4. Description of the Proposed Project

Community sustainable development empowerment program (COSDEP) is a grassroots

organisation (NGO) dedicated to promote food, nutrition and income security in central Kenya.
We do this by ensuring practice, continuous learning and spread of organic farming among the
rural small scale farmers; which is affordable, social-economic and environmentally viable and
sustainable. We aim to enable farmers with skills that will boost productivity by emphasizing on
building long-term soil fertility and appropriate cropping practices. This is to improve and
maintain higher levels of yields, range of foods and some cash from sale of surplus and designed
agro-enterprises at the household level.

The beneficiaries of this project are largely tea farmers in the upper Kiambu who have for a long
time depended on the cash crop for their sustenance. Every time there is a pay out they have to
continuously depend on the market for foodstuffs. Recently, the price recess in the sub sector and
the escalating food prices have made the majority suffer to a great extent as the incomes and
market forces reduce their purchasing power significantly. Attempts to diversify by some have
slowly been observed as they try to bridge the economic gap. That’s why we aspire to work with
this group in order to contribute in their efforts to producing own safe, nutritious and diverse

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foods using soil maintenance, crop and livestock sustainable methods. The specific villages that
we intend to target in Kagwe are Githogoiyo, Kamahindu, Gachoire, Matimbei and Githirioni.

COSDEP intends to build the communities’ own capacity to improve their livelihoods. This is
done by mobilization and farmer education as well as assisting them to adopt the techniques. A
successful adoption ensures that the know-how is internalized in the community for further
spread among the farmers meaning that they can uphold the system for as long as they practice
farming; without a compromise on yield and the quality of food, soil health and natural
environment.

This particular project comes at a time when farmers are hardest hit by the effects of climate
change and therefore needs to be thoroughly equipped for their resilience, adaptation and
contribute meaningfully to mitigation of the setbacks. It targets to work with the farmers to build
and fine tune their capacity in managing farm resources and emphasizing on composting as a
basic component to build long-term soil fertility and establish rich family kitchen gardens for
each participating household. This will go along way to improving the food/nutrition security as
well as raise the incomes by growing own food as opposed to market reliance and selling of the
surpluses.

5. Problem Statement
The farmers in this region of Kenya have for a considerable period practiced mono-cropping and
over relying on cash crop- tea. Those doing any other kind of farming are poorly equipped and
use non sustainable practices responsible for loss of soil fertility, environmental degradation,
unsafe and food insecurity. When there is no food the proceeds from the cash crops means very
little as most of it goes to food and because it is from the market, it is usually of poor nutritional
quality as one goes for what is affordable and available. Despite having nationally revered tea as
the cash crop, the farmers are small scale in nature which means that their incomes are meager
and hardly enough for initiating other economic initiatives. This is worsened during the dry
seasons when the productivity of the ‘savior’ crop is lowest- translating to difficult livelihoods.
Sad but true is that bought food stuffs are never satisfying, sometimes contaminated and low in
quality due to such factors as financial, handling and time between picking and consumption.
However this community has the capacity to use what is naturally theirs, ecologically develop its
nutrition security and save money and if possible earn more from the family kitchen gardening
initiatives.

Rationale for the project

Sustainable organic agriculture is a system of farming using local resources and skills to build
long-term soil fertility, safe food and nutritional security as well as protect natural ecosystems.
This project falls under our mission, which is to promoting sustainable development initiatives
among the poor small scale farmers in Central region through participatory practices.

This project approach proposes to use the farm resource management for soil fertility building
and designed family gardening. It will impart knowledge and skills to the participating target
beneficiaries, singling out composting and growing own food in family units as the means to
achieving its goal. Using the compost in the family kitchen gardens relate the two best practices.

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 It also calls for a careful integration of the farm resources, enterprises, encourages re-use and
recycling thus diversifying the out put and benefits.

i. Composting: One of the basic steps to fertility building is using the organic materials and
‘waste’ as raw materials for making quality natural fertilizer. These materials which include
the plants remains, crop residues and livestock waste (manure and bio slurry), which will
tactfully be incorporated to decompose and give nutrients-rich compost to be used in the
family gardens.

ii. Establishment of Kitchen Gardens: It is expected that every household learns how to
establish and maintain a Kitchen garden. This garden should contain skillfully mixed and
diverse crops including indigenous vegetables, cereals and root crops designed to provide
balanced diet to the families. It ultimately will support and contribute to COSDEP’s vision of
a just, self reliant rural community which is social-economic and environmentally conscious
and sustainable. Its execution adds value to our mandate of building capacity to ensure
communities continuous learning and practice of organic farming in Kiambu and Murang’a.

COSDEP will therefore, deploy a team of five experienced four to execute this project in Kagwe
area since there is not and has never been another of this kind in the area before.

Target area(s) and Beneficiaries

Kagwe is a high altitude area of about 2000 meters above sea level. It is cool most of the time
and rainfall is fairly reliable, receiving 1000 – 2500mm annually most of which is received in
two seasons, that is March to May (long rains) and October - November (short rains). Population
density is 450 persons per square kilometer with an average of 7 members for each household.
95% of the population is made up of small scale farmers who entirely depend on small portions
of land planted with tea for their livelihoods as holders range between one hectare of land and
below one acre. (Statistics for Kiambu County)

To sustain benefits, the project, provides for the farmers to learn, practice, share and facilitate
circulation of the knowledge (continued learning) among themselves. We want farmers to be
enthusiastic, seek and able to collaborate with others who mean to raise their standards in a
sustainable way.
The mobilization planning and implementing of the project will be participatory by way of
involving the beneficiaries through their elected representatives in all stages and events of the
project. The organized learning groups will be encouraged to interact and work together in same,
similar or bigger common interest groups. That would, provide for benefitting from one another
in experience and idea sharing and networking with other agencies long after the project period.

Statement on Gender
The project intends to use the whole family approach in order to enhance on its adoption by
different social groups and broaden awareness, develop skills and team work in the households.
It therefore will work with the men, women and the youth alike. Although there is a slight
likelihood of more women participating, the project will encourage the involvement in all
activities of wives and their husbands as well as the out-of school young people from the
participating households.

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 Work Plan and Monitoring Framework

Intervention Logic Objectively Means of Assumptions

verifiable verification
indicators
Overall Enhance communities’ Availability of Signed contract That the overall
Objective nutrition and livelihood resources and the between resources
security by means of sought out COSDEP and the required will be
building Kagwe farmers funding financing partner available
capacity to sustainably
manage farm based
resources
Specific Training on Composting Prepared training Farmers registers Farmers will
Objectives and kitchen gardening notes during the avail
training sessions themselves for
1000 farmers to be trained 50 groups of 20 training
farmers each
Exchange visits and 50 visits for 20
grooming of community groups
leaders
Expected Introduction of local and Trained Farmers Training Manuals That the
Results viable farming alternative trainings and
Useful nutrition implementation
production and self Established of the
reliance kitchen gardens techniques will
Farmer to farmer learning /Compost heaps be successful
and networking

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Activities
Mobilization To bring together groups 20 farmers groups Ready groups for That all
and with common interest training activities will
organizing have been
groups undertaken by
the end of the
Trainings To train 1000 farmers 50 groups of 20 Signed training project period
farmers records

Follow up To encourage 3 post training Records of visited

visits implementation visits /group farmers

Establish To have diversified, low One kitchen Records of

kitchen input, local and viable garden for every designed gardens
gardens alternative household (photos)

Local To offer encouragement 50 visits Records of

exchange and enhance interaction visitors and hosts
visits and learning

M and E To ensure the work plan Monthly Monthly field and

is followed expenditure financial reports
forms, work plan
copies for staffs

Management and Coordination

COSDEP will use its current field trainers to carry out the project, three of them and one
administrative staff as the Monitoring and Evaluation officer. A work plan is prepared listing all
the activities that will be undertaken by the staffs to be engaged and the specific roles and
responsibilities for each.
The three trainers will be involved in mobilizing, training, kitchen garden establishment and
composting, organizing exchange visits and follow ups. The M and E officer will coordinate all
activities ensuring that the work plan is followed up, and reports both for the field and financial
are compiled and submitted regularly to the relevant offices on time.

COSDEP’S organisations structure

Board

Director

Field staff & trainers Administrative staff/ HOD

Attached students

Target Beneficiaries; Small scale farmers in Central Kenya

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Reporting

COSDEP through the M and E officer will make sure that every staff involved in the project will
be compiling a monthly progressive field report detailing the activities undertaken, challenges
encountered and progress so far. We will also develop a monthly expenditure form which every
trainer will be given for filling the expenses incurred while carrying out the project activities.
These monthly reports together with the expenditure forms will then be forwarded to the M and
E officer who will then summarize them into one report which will be submitted to the Donor
through email or according to any other arrangement that might be agreed upon.

Action Plan and Budget

Activity Unit Cost Total Cost

KSH.
Mobilization and groups formation 5, 000 per month 60, 000
(Transport)
Conducting 3 days Training; 2, 000 per group training 100, 000
Composting and designing of Kitchen
gardens and Training materials
(Transport for trainers and stationeries)
Establishment of Gardens (Procurement 4,000 per group demo 200, 000
of Seeds and planting Materials)
Follow-ups (Transport ) 1,000 for each group 50, 000

Conducting local Exchange visits 2, 000 for each group 100, 000
(Transport and meals)
Monitoring & Evaluation (Logistics) 5, 000 per month 60, 000

Allowances for the projects personnel 10, 000 per month for coordinator 120, 000
Coordinator, Trainers and the M and E 7, 000 @trainer per month for 3 252, 000
officer trainers
5, 000 per month for the M&E 60, 000
officer
Total 1, 002, 000

5% provision for changes 50, 100

1, 052, 100
Grand Total

Amount Requested is Kshs 1, 052, 100 or USD 13, 150 (1 USD is equivalent to Kshs 80)