The group of 20 students comprised some of our MMH volunteers from our people with albinism communities, teachers, religious leaders, community group leaders, Some of our Making More Health Lastmile personnel, police officers and also the national administrator -chief. A Medical social worker from the hospital joined, as well.

The reason?

Yesterday, the first hydroponic lecture took place in our MMH- GAASPP house in Webuye, Bungoma County.

What is hydroponic farming?

Hydroponic farming is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil.

The nutrients used in hydroponic systems can come from many different sources, including fish and other nutrient solutions.

Hydroponic farming is cost–effective although it requires an initial investment. Once it is up and running, one can expect to see quicker plant growth and better plant production compared to plants in normal soil.

For our people close to the poverty line who often have no own land it creates good opportunities.

One of the Ashoka fellows in our network, Adebowale Onafowora, teaches them in several modules and locations around Bungoma county in a train-the-trainer approach on how to do.

The hydroponic teaching program is part of a larger program where several social enterprises from the Ashoka network are involved. It includes:

• Farming and Entrepreneurship with Lawrence Afere
• Water Conservation with Farmer Tantoh
• Hydroponic Farming with Adebowale Onafowora
• Entrepreneurship and Business skills with Wamuyu Mahinda

Besides a large employee engagement and starting co-creations with other international companies on the ground it is another pillar to develop and offer solutions to the complex needs of the population. Together with them, our local NGOs and other local stakeholders it aims for a disruptive way of system change where more health, but also income generation, infrastructure and education are seen as topics to be invested in in parallel.