Helen has been practising dairy farming for the past 18 years since 2001. She began with rearing one cattle which could only produce up to two litres or less but now she is a successful owner of five dairy cattle which produce 15 litres each.

She says, ‘I started dairy farming back in 2001 with one cattle which would only provide me with milk for my household use alone. The milk was less than two litres and sometimes even less than that. In 2014, I was mapped by GROOTS Kenya and grouped together with other dairy farmers from Tegat and we were taken through #KILIMO BIASHARA training aimed at educating us into being successful dairy farmers.

The training taught us how to choose the best dairy cattle and the best type of food to give a dairy cow.

After the training, I went back home and talked to my husband and we decided to buy another cow based on our learnings. After buying the cow we started to plant the taught dairy feeds for our cow. The cow would produce up to 10 litres of milk per day and that was enough for our house consumption and we sold the rest to our neighbors.

In 2016, I applied for seed fund loan of Ksh: 200,000 through GROOTS Kenya to expand my dairy farming. I bought two dairy cattle that costed Ksh 80,000 each and spent the rest of the money to buy chaff cutter to help me process the cow silage.

I choseed seed fund loan from GROOTS Sacco since the loan application process is easier for a grassroots woman like me and the loan return payments are flexible and affordable as compared to the bank loans.

Right now I own five diary cattles, two are expecting and the remaining three do produce 15 liters of milk each . The profit I get from the selling the milk enables me to repay my loan in time with less of a hustle.

I am grateful for KILIMO BIASHARA training by GROOTS Kenya. Since then, my life has changed a lot. I never saw myself having more than three cattle that would have produced more than 10 litrers of milk but now, I own five which produce up to about 15 litres each.

Asante Sana GROOTS Kenya , I am whom I am today because of your support. May you continue to touch and empower more grassroots women.’

My name is Jennifer Mutinda, I am 47 years old and I come from Kawongo in Kitui County. I joined GROOTS Kenya in 2003 through the Community Responses to HIV/AIDS program.

A team of men from my community interacted with GROOTS Kenya in Mathare where the organisation was supporting women living with HIV/AIDS and asked to partner to start up a similar initiative locally. I was among 10 community members selected to attend a workshop with other members of GROOTS Kenya where we were trained on home based caregiving.

Before joining GROOTS Kenya, I was only a teacher with very little skills on farming and almost no interest in community activities. I couldn’t even attend a chief’s baraza. I had absolutely no interest in anything except for school and church activities.

After joining GROOTS Kenya, my life started anew. The numerous trainings equipped me with knowledge and skills that enabled me interact with people at different levels of leadership which earned me recognition as a leader. GROOTS Kenya encouraged me to pursue a diploma in community development which enabled me to serve my community better.  I started participating in various committees such as the Area Advisory Committee to influence positive change in the community.  I also got promoted to a senior teacher and later to a deputy head teacher.

The exposure enabled me to see the problems affecting my community and how I would play a part in solving them. This is when together with other community leaders we started lobbying for various development projects such as putting up a youth polytechnic to offer skills and knowledge to children affected by HIV/AIDS, construction of a health facility to cater for people affected by HIV/AIDS, improved farming methods to improve nutrition and generate income, and improved delivery of services to the community.

Through peer learning exchanges on agriculture and entrepreneurship I was able to replicate the skills acquired back in my home and in the community. I am now a model farmer in my locality with sixteen dairy cows that I am able to feed throughout the seasons rainy, or not. I have constructed a store where I keep fodder for my cattle which sometimes lasts upto 3 months. I grow the fodder on my farm.

Due to the trainings I received I have been able to develop proposals to fund various community initiatives such as purchasing dairy goats and giving support and care to people living with HIV/AIDS.  Additionally, hundreds of people have been supported to purchase water tanks, pay school fees and establish small businesses with my intervention.

I have helped organize people living with HIV/AIDS to establish various forms of income generating activities which has been very successful.

More women in my community have now risen to become leaders and this has helped us rid our community of negative cultural habits.

I am currently championing for the adoption of clean cooking technologies among the residents of Kitui while also lobbying the county government to mainstream clean cooking programs in the county policies and plans.

'My name is Hannah Njoki Wachira, I am 43 years old and I come from Nyota area in Kuresoi North, Nakuru County. I joined GROOTS Kenya in 2013 after being mapped as a dairy farmer in the Accelerating Rural Women's Access to Markets and Trade project.

I have never once regretted joining the movement because it has had such a positive impact in my life. GROOTS Kenya pulled me out of the depression I had drifted into after the death of my firstborn son. I immersed myself in the activities and trainings which prevented me from dwelling too much on the loss. They also empowered me economically with intensive trainings on dairy farming which led to increased production levels. I am now confident and driven.

Before joining GROOTS Kenya, I was a Nursery school teacher(I still am), while my husband kept a small canteen. We were not invested in farming; we kept one cow “Madam” who would produce only one litre of milk in a day. GROOTS Kenya started by educating us on the best dairy and horticulture farming practices. I embraced semi zero-grazing and in less than a year, my cow was producing up to 9 litres of milk in a day which went up to 15 litres in another year.

From the increased income, I constructed a semi permanent house. I also enrolled my son in college.

I embraced horticulture farming and started borrowing commercial loans to improve and expand my farming. Additionally, I received training on lobbying and advocacy and together with a team of fellow grassroots women, we successfully lobbied for improved roads and maternity health care within our community.

I now know all the relevant stakeholders in my community and we collaborate on a variety of issues touching on women's welfare.

Being in GROOTS Kenya has also honed my leadership skills and I am no longer afraid to take charge of any situation. I sat on the same panel with Gender Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki at the 2nd High Level Meeting in Nairobi in 2016 to speak about the impact of agribusiness on small scale rural women farmers.

Just recently, I was elected by fellow grassroots women as the Vice Chairperson for GROOTS SACCO, whose goal is to enhance the financial inclusion of grassroots women and their communities.

I am a leader in my local women's group; Golden Ladies women group , which we formed under the guidance of GROOTS Kenya. We have managed to save over Ksh. 1 million through table banking. We used this money to dig boreholes or buy water tanks for all 19 members of the group. Later, we bought chaff cutters for all members.  This contributed greatly to our efficiency in farming and consequently to increased production levels.

Most of my neighbours have replicated the new farming practices and are now enjoying increased yields and income levels.

We can afford to transport farm produce to the markets easily due to the improved road infrastructure and earn higher profits because we have eliminated middlemen. There is reduced cases of theft of farm produce which can be attributed to the fact that a majority of people are busy farming and no longer have the time to engage in criminal activities.

Additionally, the community can now interact with the various leaders due to the linkages formed by the advocacy teams, and peace has been fostered among the various tribes that are part of the movement.

GROOTS Kenya is committed to lift rural women out of poverty, they treat us with respect and they have never given up on this worthy cause."

GROOTS Kenya has implemented this project from 2012 to 2016 in partnership with the World Bank & Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF). The first of its kind under the World Bank-managed trust fund, the overall aim is to contribute to women’s economic empowerment and improved livelihoods through enhanced agricultural production and access to markets. The underlying rationale is to equip women with relevant knowledge and skills as well as improve their leadership and organizational capabilities to enable them to become drivers of their own social and economic transformation in Nakuru and Kitui Counties with a focus on the dairy, horticulture & indigenous chicken value chain.

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