In 2011, East Africa experienced one of the worst humanitarian crises in living memory as rains failed for the third consecutive year.
Edward Wambugu, East Africa Director for development charity Traidcraft, works directly with farmers in East Africa. He says: "Changing weather patterns are having a huge negative impact on small-scale farmers in Kenya and these changes are different year on year. This unpredictability has caused the biggest problems for the communities that I work with. It means that the natural balance of the land and climate have worked against each other, leaving farmers facing a tough year ahead."
He adds: "The decision to plant or not is causing farmers grave concern as the rains are so unpredictable. This year the long rains of March to May did not arrive. Crops failed and the farmers I visited, who desperately want to be self-reliant, are obliged to accept food aid in order to feed their families."
[To watch a video of Edward explaining how people in East Africa are affected by climate change, click here]
Rob Donnelly, Traidcraft’s Head of Africa Programmes, adds: "The steady decline in rainfall during the past two decades, combined with more frequent droughts and less predictable rainy seasons, has made life increasingly difficult for farmers in East Africa. All of us here at Traidcraft want to help farmers find an alternative to relying on food aid and that means finding other means of income generation."
Traidcraft works with small scale producers in Kenya, and across the developing world, helping them to diversify their crops and identify other sources of income. It has launched a charity appeal to raise funds towards continuing its work in developing nations.
Until recently, smallholder farmers at Iriaini Tea Factory in Kenya - one of Traidcraft’s newest tea suppliers - relied solely on tea grown on their small plots of land. With limited space and some ground unsuitable for cultivation, many struggled to earn a living.
While tea remains at the heart of all Iriaini does, training carried out by Edward Wambugu has opened new doors and helped the farmers to embrace new ways of making the most of the farmers’ limited land.
The tea growers have become beekeepers. They are also planting passion fruit – providing extra income for them and nectar for the bees. Some farmers have begun water harvesting and their small plots of land are flourishing, providing food for families and with surplus to sell.
Mathew Ng’enda, who was Iriaini factory manager during the training, explains: “We are so happy because all those activities engage our farmers and they have an extra income. We have become the pioneer beekeepers in the tea industry.”
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For more information on producers, images or details of the work Traidcraft does, please contact Victoria Lamb on 0191 4976418 or at victorial@traidcraft.co.uk.
