History
In 2002/3 Rev. Bruce Collins was invited to take a team to the Diocese of Maseno North, Kenya to teach local church leaders. The visiting team was faced with the stark reality of food shortages and extreme poverty in what should be a very abundant and fertile region. Most people were only able to eat once a day in the months before harvest.
Most farmers own small holdings of between a half and two acres. Most of these farms were not producing enough food even for subsistence due to poor land management and lack of agricultural knowledge.
In desperation the men would have to go to larger urban centres like Kisumu, Mombasa and Nairobi in order to make a living leaving the women and children to run the farm. Some men return to the farm having contracted HIV and infect their wives. The HIV/AIDS infection rate can be as high as 25% of the adult population. There are many hundreds of AIDS orphans in the Maseno area.
The combined result was poverty, malnourishment, starvation and high mortality rates in one of the most fertile regions of Kenya.
A possible solution
In 2005 another team went out from some London churches with the specific purpose of setting up a Kenyan agricultural project. The vision was if the land could produce enough food to feed the family and have enough to sell the local farmer would not have to leave for the city. The natural result would be an increase in the economic wealth, social stability, and long term health of the region.
The intention was to establish a project that was based on principles of the Kingdom of God, that could be replicated easily in other areas in Kenya and beyond.