Hellen Onyango
A Story from the LandFarming with Allies: Diversified and Climate Smart Crops Give Farmers in a Kenyan Co-Op A New Lease on the Land
Maize is a staple crop in Kenya. Even when it does not make economical or agricultural sense, it is still grown for food. Changes in weather often make it impossible to leave the fields with tangible yields, and when the rains are so limited, the farmer has neither food for the family nor surplus to sell.
Hellen Akinyi Onyango, Kenyan crop aggregator and farmer, says, “Four years ago, a group of smallholder farmers changed to growing white sorghum, a more drought tolerant food crop with better market prices. When we moved to white sorghum we began a new crop rotation, sorghum during the long rains and legumes like beans, green gram and soybean during the short rains. Now we have over 1500 farmers working together to collect and transport the grain at harvest time. The decision to change to sorghum farming has made our lives better and opened our minds to new ideas like trying new seeds and varieties that are resilient to climate change and high yielding.”
SfL Pathways: diversification, soil health, water management, collaboration, adaptation
Addressing SDGs: no poverty, zero hunger, decent work and economic growth, climate action, life on land
Farm to Market Alliance Video
Our Vision
An Agricultural Renaissance, led by innovative and entrepreneurial farmers, ranchers and foresters constructing sustainable, profitable and resilient systems that lay the foundation for a world of abundance on many scales capable of producing nutritious food, feed, fiber, clean energy, healthy ecosystems, quality livelihoods, and strong rural economies.
