Sustainable Agriculture in Eldoret, Kenya by Emily Kovar

             My name is Emily Kovar and I spent two of my summer months in the beautiful country of Kenya in the rising town of Eldoret. I am an International Agricultural Development major at UC Davis, so my project “Improving Nutrition Through Indigenous Vegetables” was a perfect fit for my interests. The overarching goals of this project  are increasing access to seed markets, facilitating better connections between farmers and sellers, and encouraging a culture of green vegetable consumption. Although I did not see the results of these long-term goals, I did see the fruit of my participation in the immediate targets of the project. I focused on growing the vegetables, marketing them to the community, organizing Eldoret youth for farm management workshops, and monitoring the progress of our homemade solar drier.

      
In the two months I spent in Eldoret, I witnessed the life cycle of the indigenous vegetables. I helped plant the greens, take data on their growth, harvest the vegetables, dry some of the plants in the solar drier, and market them to the local community. I was fortunate enough to be involved in each step from planting to selling and consuming. This offered me as holistic of an experience as eight weeks could allot to me. I spent most my time on a farm in the neighboring town of Turbo. The family living there was incredibly hospitable and always demanded I stay to eat lunch with them. This extreme generosity was a foreign experience for me. I had never been forced to sit and eat all the food presented to me and for multiple servings, no matter how hungry I was. This family was quick to take me in and difficult to part with. Conversations I had with them were indispensable in my Swahili language development. Their kindness, acceptance, and genuine care was not lost on me. The cultural exchanges that took place during those meal times in broken Swahili English will remain with me forever.