Teacher's initiative transforms local agriculture and nutrition

Pupils at Kugerwet Primary School in the vegetable farm located in Bomet County [Nanjinia Wamuswa, Standard]

Two years ago, Dominic Orina, a teacher, arrived at Kugerwet Primary School and initiated a project to promote vegetable farming and improve nutrition. He explains that he also sought to challenge gendered farming norms.

“I started the project after learning that fruit and vegetable consumption was very low in the area because people were not growing them. The few who did grow some vegetables did so for domestic use, not for sale,” Orina explains.

He added that locals lacked both the knowledge and skills needed to grow vegetables, as well as an understanding of the health benefits they provide. Orina later discovered that although local women had always wanted to grow...