A featured impact story of Rose, from the Rongo Organic Farmer's Project. Rose inherited the land and coffee cultivation from her late husband who grew the coffee in 1962. Rose wanted to invest the money she got from coffee sales on something that will give her constant income from last season's harvest, that PRI Kenya helped generate avenues for the organic Rongo Coffee. Rose gets 8 litres of cow milk daily daily helping her sustain her and her family by providing to the market and her family's consumption. Rose really needed an extra income source to use pay for her grand children's school fees and not to mention that the organic milk has also aided in their diet.
She bought one cow who was expecting resulting in two cows now. She has boosted her coffe yeild exponentially, using manure from the cow that has enabled her to prepare compost for her coffee plantation and other food crops such as maize and beans. Seeing the results just by using compost in regenerating her soils has reaped in yield and believes that organic and non convential inputs are the way to go!
The enterprise development is slowly growing and farmers are receiving regular training on composting, picking the right cherries and expanding their volumes for a consistent flow for the demanding market!
The coffee farms were affected during this period of the drought, however now that the rains are finally here, the farmers are now preparing for the next season and cultivating more biodiversity.They are beginning to cultivate model permaculture demo farms and expanding to other farmers in the region; to diversify farms and farming landscapes, replace chemical inputs, increase biodiversity and stimulate interactions between different species, as part of holistic strategies to build long-term fertility, healthy agro-ecosystems and secure livelihoods. As a contribution to such imperatives
We released a fantastic Easter Blend Rongo Coffee which was yet another best seller on the shelves and now have a Rongo blend avaialble for anyone at anytime. This is a clear incentive for farmers to build on capacity to eventually provide more coffee around the region. They are also starting to devlop other broad spectrum crops to aid in food secuirty overtime which is integrated within the coffee. Farmers are appreciating the results using permauclture principles and it is evident when you see their coffee trees in comparison to the mono and convential systems.
