Scope
The Bondo region is one of the poorest regions in Kenya. Due to the increasing pollution in Lake Victoria, there is a shift from the fishing industry towards a more agricultural society. Most of these farms provide enough yield for the farmers themself, but not enough to sell anything on the market.
When the farmers are able to produce more vegetables they can take these to the market to get a revenue stream of sold vegetables. The money earned with the sold vegetables can be invested in the farm or can be spent to increase the living standard of the farmers.
The course
By giving the smallholder farmers the right knowledge we want to empower them to become more independent and have the ability to create a more comfortable life. These tools will be given to them through a course on greenhouse farming. This course should not only give them the knowledge to cultivate using greenhouses, but also the skills and capacity to run a business. We will develop and design the course almost from scratch to a tested draft. The developing will be in a co-operation with professors and students from the JOOUST and smallholder farmers from the region. By visiting a lot of farmers we want to see in what kind of circumstances they work and ask them what they'd want. We will also do a more in-depth research with some of these farmers. We will ask them if it is possible to work together for a day or two so we will also get some hands-on experience. The idea behind this is also that we can first get a relation with these farmers before we start to ask them a lot of questions.
Research
The group that went to Bondo last year started with a paper about greenhouse farming in the Bondo region. We will continue this research towards the topic of capacity. The research we do for this paper will also be used in the development process of the course on greenhouse farming. If the research will be published it will not only be valuable for our course but it gives researchers from all over the world more knowledge about smallholder farmers in western Kenya. However this research will only involve the topic of capacity and won't discuss anything about the technics.
Constructing new greenhouse
Last year another group of students from the TU Delft constructed another greenhouse at the JOOUST. This will be the greenhouse where the courses will be given, this year we will construct another greenhouse. The second greenhouse will be rented to farmers who have completed the course but can't afford to buy a greenhouse on their own. By renting the greenhouse they can already practise their knowledge and skills from the course and save up some money. After about four years the farmer should be able to buy his own greenhouse, a business plan for this will be written by the other group in Bondo.
Building a new watersupply system
Last summer there was a long period of draught in Bondo. During this time the whole university had a shortage of water. Because the greenhouses are on the waternetwork of the university there was also no water in the greenhouse. Due to this watershortage the plant in the greenhouse died and the harvest failed. To prevent this from happening another time there will be another watersupply system build and research will be done on how to build this. This both is however the task of the other group in Bondo, but on the spot we will probably work a bit more together.
Contribution to development
The whole plot of greenhouses and the water system can evolve towards a knowledge centre about greenhouse farming. The JOOUST is an important partner with this in providing the right tools and knowledge. With the course farmers should be able to get more and better vegetables from their farming, the rentable greenhouses provide them with their own greenhouse while they can't afford to buy one. After a few years these farmers should be able to buy their own greenhouse so the greenhouse can be rented to the next generation of farmers that finishes the course. By spreading knowledge and the right tools the course should contribute to a better life for these farmers and on the long term this can serve the whole region with more prosperity.