SUSTAINABLE
GLOBAL GARDENS
PROJECTS
1. SUPPORT FOR ORPHANS
Orphans at Namulekhwa Wedinye waiting for the communal meal
Since 2007 SGG has been supporting 500 orphans & vulnerable children whose guardians are members of 9 different community groups in Busia, West Kenya. Initially this project just provided a nutritious weekly meal for these home-based orphans, but in order to be sustainable we also encourage income-generation schemes for their guardians. Read more...
2. TABLE BANKING
A typical table banking meeting with a group of FOCUSSA members discussing possible projects
Since 2009 SGG provided microcredit for members of Maendeleo Mashinani who wished to implement an income generation scheme. Typical schemes included: poultry rearing, cereal trading, indigenous vegetables, pig-breeding, tree-planting, growing bananas. Since 2016 table banking has been restricted to OVC groups because of insufficient funds.
3. KITCHEN GARDENS
A new crop planted under trees at Matayos demonstration plot. 3 groups grow vegetables for consumption by OVCs and for sale at market
SGG is promoting organic gardening as an appropriate strategy for Kenyan small farms. The start of any transformation to organic gardening is the production of large quantities of compost needed to maintain soil fertility on land which might produce 2 -3 crops each year. Double dug raised beds and agroforestry further improve outcomes.
4. TROPICAL TREE PLANTING
5. WATER HARVESTING
Same Rotarians and SGG at the nursery at Same Lutheran Cathedral which is part of the Youth programme where young people are trained in enterprise and other life skills.
Planting on Kilimanjaro and in West Kenya established the advantages of agroforestry for small scale farmers where trees can provide fruits for improving nutrition, fuel wood, fodder, shade and a supplementary income while maintaining good soil conditions on the farm.
Members of Liana local building team finishing water tank at Kwakao Primary School. Scott Bader Charity Fund gaves us a generous grant towards this.
Many Tanzania primary schools have no water supply although most have enough grounds where they could grow food to feed the children and trees for shade and fuel. We have worked with LIANA a Finnish charity who have a team of local Tanzanian builders to install water harvesting systems
7. ZOMBA MALAWI
Firefighting is an important means of increasing tree cover in Zomba. Paying local farmers a small fee to put out fires has proved as successful at maintaining the forest as planting new trees.
In October 2021 a new project was started in partnership with Zomba Treez to apply some o methods which have been successful in Kenya. This is a 5 year project involving tree planting, natural regeneration, improved food production and income for farmers
8. ST DENIS LIBOLINA SCHOOL
SGG fieldworkers usually receive a warm welcome from schoolchildren when we meet them at a project site
We are highlighting St Denis Libolina School for the Physically Challenged as it is an excellent example of North-South international partnership, which is Sustainable Development Goal No. 17.
That multistakeholder partnership is founded primarily on British generosity & funding, Kenyan skill & expertise, and a willingness of African beneficiaries to work for their own benefit.
6. PEST MANAGEMENT
Mukwano members receiving Tephrosia vogeleii seedlings as part of a new project in Busia
At the end of the OPTIONs project in 2017 it was agreed to establish an International Society for Pesticidal Plants [ISPP]. The OPTIONs team were aware that an estimated 200,000 people die each year from synthetic pesticide poisoning. It is also estimated that 30-35% of crop production in Africa South of the Sahara is lost because of pest damage before or after harvesting. Thus better pest control using natural pesticides is an obvious strategy for poverty and hunger alleviation in Africa