Our activities with the farmer cooperatives in Mbakalo in Bungoma county, Kenya over the past two years show now real differences and life of thousands has started to change: Better hygiene, more knowledge on health and health prevention, but also more skills, growing income, and concrete solutions built often by themselves.

Adoption of our hygiene innovations in the community

Simple innovations keep food borne and water borne diseases away…Washing and drying plates outside has been often risky in the past because of the lack of stands, poor hygiene, unsufficient drying and plate keeping practices. The farmer women and men now understand the issue of germs and disease causes and engage to make the situation at their homes better. Every household adopts the learning to their own taste and preference. There is a big multiplier effect. More and more people implement the innovation. Also those who might not have been in the training sessions before. We are happy now that there are hygienic ways of drying utensils.

Another change is the awareness around waste management. There is still a lot to do, but the farmer families have started to collect and separate waste.

As our local NGO partner Cleophas from Core Health and Wealth describes:“ …we have started promoting waste management practices. Putting up refuse pits…we have innovated to create a separate pit for plastics and the other for household waste. So the plastics do not finish on the fields and we start now activities with organic waste management…“.

Indeed, in a few days a social entrepreneur will share and teach about the breeding of black soldier flies which – besides other opportunities and advantages – are used to make a good fertilizer out of the organic waste.

And also the idea of a cooking competition is under preparation…

… and even the crafts are becoming very high standard.

It’s simply amazing to see what is possible when change happens together WITH the communities and WITH a great local NGO partner who also believes in systemic change and fosters social entrepreneurial thinking.