Project Description
  | KenyaAugust 2007 Ended: (in progress) Project Managers: *Shannon Lisowe *Drew Birrenkott Lauren Campbell Anna Pendleton Nathan Werbeckes Mark Liu Mike Heiss Brian Zimmerman *current |   |
*New* Notes from our Luo Lessons
Also see: Kenya Travel Blog
In the Fall of 2007, the UW-Madison Engineers Without Borders chapter began a project to try and help the community of Orongo Kenya. In 2003, a student from Sweden wrote his masters’ thesis on this village’s water quality and also outlined a few of their other urgent needs. The Kenya Project was organized and grew thanks to this report and a few main contacts from within the village. Immediately, dozens of student members began research on possible projects that could help the community in the areas of agriculture/irrigation, agroforestry, and water purification. The first assessment trip was scheduled for January 2008, but was cancelled due to violence after the national election.
Since this trip, this group has been focused on providing low-cost sustainable solutions to the 4 main issues the community believes we can help them with. These issues fall into Water & Sanitation, Agroforestry, Agriculture, and Sustainable Energy.
Agroforestry
Background
The first thing anyone will notice as they enter the village of Orongo is how barren and dry it is. The only things growing are hand planted crops that are carefully tended. However, this was not always the case. A mere 30 years ago, we were told by the elders, Orongo was a town within a flourishing forest housing so many tropical bird species that it would draw bird watchers from foreign countries. Decades of deforestation to build homes, cook meals, and clear land for farming has left this land in such poor condition that the residents who want to grow even a single mango tree are unable to do so. Our goal is to introduce well researched techniques to bring nutrients back into the soil and grow trees in such a manner that they can survive both the droughts and floods.
Agroforestry is a general term used to describe farming practices involving combinations of trees, shrubs, crops, and other plants to produce a growing environment that is beneficial for all species involved. During our first trip to Orongo, we observed that a neighboring community had started an agroforestry plot on their school grounds. Only three years old, this plot had already begun to produce fruit. Additionally, the school was also able to sell young saplings grown on the plot to raise money. With these funds, administrators hoped to purchase more trees to plant in the coming year. Residents familiar with the plot expressed enthusiasm for the idea and a few were even independently trying to start smaller plots in their own yards. This was clear evidence that there was interest in the idea and that the conditions in the region were appropriate for growing many common agroforestry trees.Action
Our agroforestry project started with a donated plot of land from the Orongo Primary School. With this land, our team would build a model agroforestry plot that enthusiastic locals would maintain while we were gone. During the January 2009 trip our project team tilled this land, measured and dug drainage ditches, dug a pond to capture runoff water, rebuilt the fence surrounding the plot, constructed a gate, and began planting trees. The trees we planted (Gliricidia, Grevillea, and Casuarina) were selected for their ability to grow quickly, fix nitrogen, and produce organic matter that may serve as fertilizer for the rest of the plot. Further, these seeds were inexpensive and locally available. By timing planting with the rainy season, the trees would flourish during the heaviest rains and quickly establish root systems deep enough to tap into the high water table. These trees would then be able to survive the dry seasons without additional watering and could provide shade and fertilizer for the next season's trees.
Unfortunately net precipitation during the 2009 growing season was so low that the Kenyan government was forced to declare a national emergency. Besides devastating the community’s crop yield, lack of rainfall decimated the agroforestry plot's newly planted saplings. Although payment had been provided to our community partner organization to fund plot upkeep and maintenance, water was so scarce that the organization's leaders were unable to justify watering the plants when people were dying of thirst. Nonetheless, the August 2009 project team was pleased to discover that some of the heartier species had survived the drought. During the trip students performed maintenance on the plot and purchased additional trees to be planted.Looking Forward
Thanks in a large part to our professional agroforester adviser Sam Dunlap, the Agroforestry team has a solid plan for advancing the plot over the upcoming years. The group has put together a guide to the trees planted in the plot that describes the specific needs of the flora. Additionally, this manual identifies other local species ideal for the plot, taking into consideration their respective strengths and weaknesses. During future trips we will continue to monitor the progress of the agroforestry plot and eventually hand full responsibility to the school's teachers and students. To promote agroforestry techniques throughout the community we will encourage families to begin plots of their own, and host lectures for farmers on how alley cropping can improve their yields.Agriculture
Background
During the first trip in August of 2008, we took a community survey of villagers in Orongo and nearly everyone stated they wanted help with their agricultural production. The problem was that even though Orongo is largely a farming community, no one had ideas for how exactly we could help. A majority of the farmers are purely subsistence farmers, meaning they grow only enough food to feed their families until the next harvest. These farmers thus have a very difficult time making enough money to break out of this cycle and improve their own lives. Being able to make farming a profitable business is the key to solving the issue of poverty.Action
The first semester of this project was focused on irrigation. Our goal was to create a low-cost low-maintenance system that could be set up by any farmer. With one semester of research, we returned in January 2009 to assess the feasibility of the design, but we ran into a financial issue. The cheapest pumps to get the water to the irrigation system cost $50. This price is out of the range of nearly all farmers in Orongo. Buying pumps looked to be the obvious solution, but getting one to every farmer would be impossible and if we handed them out for free it is unlikely they would be treated well and kept in good repair.
The next semester our group worked on value addition. This is the concept of selling processed goods for more than you can sell the original, raw product. Our plan was to build a potato chipper that would slice up the sweet potatoes like a cheese grater. These shavings could then be dried and mashed into flour. Adding a fraction of wheat flour, this flour product can be used in place of the expensive imported wheat. The flour could either be sold or used to make bread products that are sold. Either way, the market value of the potato is increased with every additional processing step, bringing more money back to the farmers even when starting from the same crops.
This project was introduced to the Orongo villagers during the August 2009 trip. They were very excited about the concept so we also arranged for a group of villagers to visit a nearby town that used similar practices. Individuals have expressed interest in value addition techniques like this, but unfortunately without a strong local government structure to lead, support, or organize the farmers, these villagers are still a ways away from realizing a medium to large scale value addition project without our constant supervision.Looking Forward
This semester we have gone back to the drawing board and are trying to figure out a plan that will aid as many farmers as possible. We have done a lot of research with the help of several UW-Madison professors to identify potential improvements to their agricultural practices. Some of these include irrigation lagoons, sand point wells, low cost food storage techniques, and flood tolerant systems. Our January 2010 trip will be used to further assess the viability of several of these options and survey Orongo farmers to gain a more complete understanding of their agricultural practices.
Water & Sanitation
Background
The community of Orongo was first brought to our attention through a Master’s Thesis written by Ken Levicki from Stockholm, Sweden that detailed the poor water quality in the village. At the time of writing this thesis, though, Ken was financially unable to start a project to improve the water quality. Our organization became involved and began a water and sanitation project in 2008.
There are three main categories of how villagers in Orongo gather their water, none of which are satisfactory. The first is boreholes, these are drill dug wells that go 60+ meters into the ground and use a hip pump system to bring the water to the surface. Our testing has shown that this water still contains bacteria capable of transmitting diseases. The water also tastes very salty, which makes the villagers avoid it if they can. Another method to collect water is using shallow wells. These wells are hand dug straight into the ground until they hit water. Wells of this kind are not sealed at all and contain enormous amounts of bacteria and are fairly turbid. The last source of water is a seasonal stream that is very similar to the shallow wells in water quality, but is even more turbid.Action
During the first semester of the project, the water group considered each of these water sources and what purification techniques could be used. We concluded that the best project to pursue would be using family sized biosand filters to clean the water from shallow wells and streams. This method was very cheap, did not require upkeep costs, and could be put together entirely with locally available materials. We built a test filter here in Madison, and then found an ideal candidate in Orongo to receive our first prototype filter. These filters are very easy to construct and require only a large container to hold the sand (200 L), PVC piping, polymer cloth, water, sand, and a screen to sieve the sand. With the receiving family and a few other villagers we built our first prototype filter in January 2009.
We returned in August 2009 to hear that the family was very happy with the filter, used it regularly, and their family members and chickens that drank the water were staying healthy. However, the filter developed a leak because it was not supported properly. The supports were adjusted and the filter was remade with a new container. A second filter was constructed outside the local nurse’s house. In this location, many of the families with the biggest health problems will be exposed to the filter as Nurse Rose liked the idea a lot and wanted an example to show all of her patients.Looking Forward
This semester, we are looking into different ways to help spread the biosand filters throughout the whole community. First off, we would like to be able to reduce the price in any way possible. Our filters were only $40, but when a family only makes less than a dollar a day the filter can seem like a huge investment. We are also researching the potential to use ferrocement instead of purchasing the plastic containers. This could also lead to a business opportunity for some villagers if our trials are successful.
The other major component of our water project is education. We are planning a series of activities for the school children concerning sanitation. We will also have separate sessions for both the adult males and females of Orongo to learn about the importance of using a filter. During the next trip, we will be looking for families to build more filters. We will only be overseeing construction, but having the family and their friends and neighbors do the building. This method will develop many people that are capable of building the filters when we are not present.Sustainable Energy
Background
During our January 2009 trip, one of our close contacts named Stephene Abongo Odinga showed us a biogas digester that he had constructed. Over the course of many months he had saved up for each component and now had a functional system, but it was not efficient enough to actually cook anything. He requested our help to improve the design and make it more reasonable for other families to build by themselves.Action
This semester, we have started up a group to address the need for alternative energy sources for cooking. At present, almost all cooking is done by chopping down what few trees are left and creating charcoal. There are many other options for creating the heat needed to cook. We have been researching solar cookers, burning dung, and biogas digesters. These techniques are currently being put on trial here in Madison as we prepare for our January 2010 trip to Orongo.
Looking Forward
The upcoming trip will be used to assess each design in the Kenyan environment and to talk to community members to decide which is most feasible to fit into their lifestyle. Once we have one concept finalized we will spend time maximizing the product's efficiency in the Orongo environment and hold workshops that will help spread the design to families throughout Orongo as quickly as possible.
Map of Orongo, Kenya
In this map we've put markers on many important locations within Orongo and nearby cities. Due to the great satellite images you can see the individual houses we've stayed at in past trips as well as the schools, shops, placemarks that were important to us in past trips. By zooming in you can get a pretty good idea of what Orongo looks like.
View Larger Map
Photos from our trips
Our very first assessment trip
Our friends in Orongo (2nd trip)
Adventures in Kenya (2nd trip)
On our last day when we were in Nairobi with extra time before our flight, we went on a 6 hour safari!
For more information on our Orongo, Kenya Project, please contact us at ewb.orongo@gmail.com.