Jan 2017 more pics

Some additional pictures from life in Nairobi, and the conservation agriculture projects:

The mozzies get bad in the dry season, and have been especially thick lately.  The only come out at dark, fortunately.  We resorted to putting up a bednet in the living room where we can retreat from the evening onslaught!

There are always new species of birds to find, we've seen several new ones just at our bird feeder in the last month.  This one is a beautiful Yellow-bellied Waxbill that we spotted while relaxing up in the tea country on a Sunday afternoon.

Carina and Alex.  The poor puppy has been suffering from problems in her rear legs so doesn't get around as much, and she doesn't visit us quite as much as she used to.

At Christmas we decided to make our own Christmas lights from Alex's Arduino set.  Here Alex is soldering wires on to the LEDs.

The end result - Christmas ostrich and Christmas turaco

We're cereal lovers but don't eat much here aside from Wheat-a-bix.  Occasionally we splurge, but this one was a disappointment.  It's funny to see what are basically sugar-coated sugar bombs advertised as GMO free, as if that makes them healthy!

A picture from last year, our SALTER David who was a math major at EMU.  Alex and Evan are now math-o-philes, so agree with the "math is fun" part of this sign.

We never tire of the gorgeous flowers that are around all year.

Cristina and the boys visited a local art place that makes sculptures out of old flip-flops.  Quite impressive!

Posting pictures of travels and partner work may give the impression we spend most of our time trundling around interesting places in Kenya.  But a lot of time is spent just hanging around the house.  The world is so connected now and we have good internet access, so we hardly feel isolated in our modest abode.

Various additional pictures from the Conservation Agriculture project:

Cowpeas (black-eyed peas) are one of the crops promoted and commonly grown in the area.  Cowpeas are drought tolerant producers, and have leaves which are commonly cooked as greens.

A field of a neighbor of one of the conservation agriculture farmers, who had "spontaneously adopted" (in development language) CA principles.  This is the goal of a project like this, to get people to start practicing it on their own, without having to have a program constantly supporting its promotion.  The field was not ploughed, and planted in furrows (although it doesn't look so obviously successful from this picture!) 

A few minutes to spare so UDO, CFGB and MCC have a friendly pool rivalry at one of the many outdoor pool tables one finds in small towns.

This farmer had some 15 cattle, so are obviously one of the more wealthy farmers in the region.  The cattle are "like money in the bank" she says - they provide milk, for instance.  Livestock are one of the more resilient livelihood activities, since they can carry a family through a mild drought.  MCC has started doing trainings in livestock emergency guidelines and standards (LEGS) in the region which helps with livestock management in situations of humanitarian crises.

Looking over a field of green grams (conventional agriculture) with dolichos (dark green) and maize.  She had 15 acres of land in crops, quite a large area for a farmer.  This type of farmer is a candidate for training in more mechanized forms of CA.  Different farmers are in very different situations, so tailoring extension to the farmer is very important.

Green grams (mung bean), a legume commonly grown and eaten in the region.  There is a good market for green grams (for instance for export to Asia) so they are promoted as a cash crop for farmers in the region.  Although much of CA is promoted to help farmers with their subsistence needs, it's clear that they all need some cash income to cover things like school fees for children.  So this project has a strong emphasis on engaging local markets.

The farmer has a home-made baler to assist in feeding the cattle.

Green grams drying in the sun.  They get hot and jump around as they pop open in the warm sun!

Sorghum crop

James and I represented MCC Kenya at the 4^th ECHO conference on sustainable agriculture, focusing on conservation agriculture.  Here the CFGB group involved in the “Scaling Up Conservation Ag..” project meet together the day before the main conference, discussing goals and strategies.  Good friend and colleague John Mbae helps the group discuss their organization’s goals in relation to the whole project.  The overall goal is to have 50,000 farmers practicing CA at the end of the project (2020).

Florence Nduku (at right with mic) talks to the group about UDO progress. Florence is starting her new job soon as the monitoring and evaluation coordinator for the overall project, and will join the MCC family as an employee in that role.  It’s great to see a partner like UDO have one of their own move on to a job with a major role in a large project.  UDO is justifiably proud of her accomplishments and we’re excited to have her with MCC! 

Grain storage is a major issue with farmers, and innovations that help with post-harvest handling are critical.  One technology that is taking off in Kenya is the use of simple plastic bags for storage.  The bags are tightly sealed after filling with seed.  Once the oxygen is used up in the bag by any insects, the pests cannot survive.  Here some trial bags are set out, seed in the plastic bag (background) are clear of weevils, whereas those in traditional breathable bags are full of weevils.

A Maasai choir entertained us at the closing banquet – great singers!

In the field learning about animal-drawn CA tools.  These oxen are using an innovative new yoke.  Many traditional yokes are painful to the animals and reduce ability to draw implements.  

The fundamental CA implement – a ripper.  The single thin blade is visible, along with a roller at back that helps to regulate blade depth, and breaks up clods of hardpan which are brought up with the ripper.

A group in Arusha is trying to make a ripper that is human powered and easier to use in small fields (animals are difficult to turn in a small field).  We tried out this treadle prototype; working the pedals moves it forward and moves the ripper blade through the soil.  It’s always interesting to see innovative ideas; of course time will tell whether they match what farmers need.

A traditional Ethiopian ripper, made from a long beam with a simple blade tied to the end.  Obviously this has the advantage of requiring fewer resources, and is popular with farmers in Ethiopia where farmers don’t have money to purchase the metal rippers.

Neighboring field in a cloud of dust from the tractor ploughing the field.

Rip lines visible in the field where we worked.  Hard clods are visible which were brought up by the ripper as it cut through the hard pan.  These are too straight to be one of the lines that I worked on!