Sustainable Gardening Kenya by Lucas Schmitz

Due to the Corona pandemic and a plague of locusts, people in the community of Limuru in Kenya are suffering from hunger. Through sustainable vegetable cultivation we create a food base independent of market prices and economic turbulences.

Poverty and hunger has always been a predominant problem in Kenya. This year the situation was considerably aggravated by the corona pandemic and a plague of locusts. Food production and the purchasing power of the population has declined. State aid programs are completely overstretched. We grow vegetables in the former garden of a kindergarten, which was closed due to the corona pandemic. With our project we help people to help themselves. The community in Limuru will be able to cover part of their food needs themselves. A basic food security will be given independent from market prices and economic turbulences. Cultivation is done locally, without chemical fertilizers and in own work.

The project has already started. We are able to grow vegetables for ourselves and some other people in our community. A total of ten families currently receive food through our garden. However, the yield of the garden is limited so far because we lack a constant water supply. If we had more water, we could irrigate the plants and grow vegetables all year round. Thus, we could increase our harvest yield fourfold.
We therefore kindly ask for a donation that would enable us to help ourselves with sustainable food.

We need 350.000 Kenyan Shillings (approx. .2.800 €)

The money is needed for

1. Water pipes: 50,000 Kenya shillings
2. Storage tank: 150,000 Kenyan shillings
3. Connection fee for water suppliers: 100,000 Kenya shillings
4. Work costs for the installation of the pipes:. 50,000 Kenya shillings

With 200.000 ksh (about 1.600 €) we can buy the hardware for our water supply.  So our goal for the first funding stage is this amount. With another 150.000 ksh (approx. 1.200 €, approx. 1.400 USD) we can start up the water supply and increase our harvest yield significantly.

With this project, we enable the community in Limuru to cover part of its food needs itself, regardless of market prices and economic turbulence. This will make it easier for the people to cope with the consequences of the corona pandemic, which will assume even greater proportions in Africa and will last longer than in Europe.

The vegetables are grown locally and without chemical fertilizers. The garden is easier to protect against locusts and other pests than the farmers’ large fields. The members of the community are involved in the cultivation. This creates a multiplier effect. The families can then start to grow additional vegetables on a small scale for their own needs.

The project therefore offers sustainable help for self-help.

The project starter: My name is Pastor Isumael Isaac Ndung’u My wife is Hannah Waithira. Together we rent a room with a small garden.  We used the room and the garden for our kindergarten and church meetings until the beginning of the year.
However, due to the Covid 19 crisis, both the church and the kindergarten school project were closed. Our sources of income have thus dried up. Out of necessity we decided to convert the kindergarten place into a sustainable vegetable growing center.

A friend of the project starter: My name is Lucas Schmitz. Isumael is a good personal friend of mine. I am helping Isumael to raise money for his project by creating this fundraiser. I know Isumael as a diligent collaborator in our common project Sana Mare. In this project we organize waste collection campaigns on rivers in Kenya. The participants in the actions come from disadvantaged backgrounds and receive a fair daily wage. Isumael works in this project as the coordinator of the clean-ups in Kenya.
I am the chairman of the project and coordinate the project and fundraising in Germany. Isumael is a very modest person with a good heart. He gives everything to help the poor people in his community. Please help him with a small donation for the horticulture project.

Thank you very much for your help.

we tackle food shortage with sustainable gardening.