ROA aims to improve household food, nutrition and incomes through improvement of soils and smallholder farmers farm practices. We promote farming technologies that address the acidity, texture, robustness, nutrition, biomass and moisture contents of the soil. No doubt, soil is the very foundation of food production and without it, we cannot imagine to feed 10 billion people by 2050.
Farmers value their soil and were quickly convinced to consume nutritious soya when they saw how only one season of soya improved their soils and grain yields.
We have succeeded in what we do because we value the farmers, we build trust and confidence and we move together. We have promoted water saving technologies, bio-inputs use and dietary diversity for better nutrition. Farmers now prepare manure, and practice crop rotation and plant nutrient dense crops. We work with both men and women and the children in schools.
Rural Outreach Africa (ROA) partnered with the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) to promote Drought TEGO™ maize hybrids, a water efficient maize variety in the four counties of western Kenya: Kakamega, Vihiga, Busia and Bungoma.
ROA is a partner in the implementation of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)-funded Sustainable Land Management (SLM) project, in Kakamega, Vihiga and Nandi counties of Western Kenya.
ISFM is a set of agricultural technologies adapted to local conditions to maximize the efficiency of nutrient and water use and improve agricultural productivity. One of ROA’s main objective is to strengthen the capacities of smallholder farmers to use ISFM technologies.
This program addresses the agricultural labor burden in an era of feminization and ageing of smallholder farmers in rural communities in Africa. The process involves prioritizing farmers’ voices in the design process and using local metal manufactures to produce the tools.
Edna Makunda, a 36-year old married mother of five uprooted all the sugarcane on her 0.2 ha of land, and replaced it with soybeans.
Kennedy Madaga, is a role model for the Ufanisi youth group in Vihiga County. He was trained as a TOT and has shown good performance under the ISFM project.