The Post Election Violence Livelihoods Recovery Project:Rebuilding Transformed Livelihoods

Rebuilding Transformed Livelihoods

The community in Moiben Division of Eldoret East District of Uasin Gishu County is largely cosmopolitan as it is agricultural. Like many parts of the County, it witnessed Post Election Violence that destroyed farm assets and resources and therefore livelihoods. PEV brought the economy of the area to its knees.

The Government, through the Ministry of State for Special Programmes, with the aim of contributing to the post election violence recovery and integration process in the affected areas, identified this community as one among many that it scheduled to benefit from a number of support intervention programs under The Post Election Violence Livelihoods Recovery Project. These support interventions are funded by UNDP Bureau of Crisis Prevention and Recovery.

One of the most notable and perhaps the cornerstone of these projects is the Karuna Milk Cooling Plant Project which, one month after its launch, is making good progress in positively impacting livelihoods in the area. This project is being implemented in the community through Progressive Farmers Co-operative Society.

Progressive Farmers Co-operative Society was registered in 1964 and inherited an old immersion cooler from the white settlers which was generator powered but remained dormant until the advent of rural electrification in the area in 2009. It however proved to be uneconomical and was shut down. PEV Livelihoods Recovery Project in partnership with the Ministry of Livestock Development has supported the Co-operative to upgrade this facility to a modern cooling plant.

Thanks to this recovery project, the Co-operative now boasts of a new fully equipped 3000-litre cooling plant, complete with a compressor unit, 200-litre reception tank, agitator, pump, temperature indicator unit and an automatic washing unit. Some of the members received training on the plant technical operation aspects. This plant is already enabling farmers in the area to maximize on milk production. Its membership has grown from 300 to 1000 and the Co-operative has since attracted both new members and milk supply, which has been on consistent rise, from neighbouring divisions of Cheplaskei and Uswo.

The dairy farmers in the area have greatly benefited from being able to collect evening milk too, a thing they previously could not, as processors collected milk in the morning only. Milk bulking has given them a competitive advantage, a stronger collective bargaining power and greatly cut on transportation costs. According to the plant manager Mr. Edward Kipchumba, collecting milk to large quantities and delivering it in bulk has seen reduction in costs and the benefits transferred to members as increased milk prices.

 “We have been approached by different milk processing and marketing companies because we can now meet the required hygiene and cooling standards and can also supply large quantities of chilled milk directly to their processing plants without additional checks.” Kipchumba explains that this has put the Co-operative Society in a better position to negotiate for better prices on behalf of, and for the benefit of its members. He projects that the daily milk supply to the cooler will surpass 2000 litres in the next two months.

Consuming 52 units of power daily, the old immersion cooler was definitely an uneconomical power guzzler, compared to the new plant which uses only 7 units of power a day. The new cooler is built to use electricity efficiently, switching on automatically only when temperatures in the cooler rise and switching off once they are regulated to the recommended chill. This further frees financial resources that trickle down to the farmer as good returns for delivered milk.

The cooling plant has caused tremendous transformation through direct and indirect job creation. Currently, it formally employs four members of staff who oversee the daily operations of the plant. “The youth here have given up their motorbikes in favour of dairy cows”, explains area Asst. Chief Francis Kirwa, who further offers that the presence of the cooling plant in the area has assured the dairy farmers of stabilized marketing strategy for their produce, encouraging more people in the area to keep dairy cattle. As milk production rises, youth who still own motorbikes do the business of delivering milk to the plant on behalf of the farmers and that of delivering animal feed to farms. This plant is continually creating opportunities for gainful engagement, handing this community a much needed means of livelihood.

In a bid to secure long term milk supply, Progressive Farmers Co-operative Society has established an Agro-Vet outlet that provides animal feed, drugs for the control of pests and diseases and for the upgrading of breeds through Artificial Insemination (AI). It has also invested in the acquisition of semen and in training of two youth from the area, equipping them in the skill of Artificial Insemination (AI) to provide this service.

Sustainability of this project depends on the consistent supply of milk in sufficient quantities. This means that farmers need assistance in other areas like stocking of quality breed, animal feed, water provision for the animals especially during dry months and in general animal husbandry. The Government thus has other important recovery support initiatives.

Towards the provision of water for the community, Progressive Community dam, which was dug by Major Wellington in the late 1800, was de-silted in 2011 under the Kazi Kwa Vijana initiative after the need was identified during a stakeholder’s forum. This was done in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Sports and technical support from the Ministry of Water. The volume of water has increased to an estimated 15,000 cubic meters. 

A spring box was also constructed and is currently providing safe water for domestic use. The catchment area has also been conserved through the planting of indigenous trees.

Quality breeds and modern breeding methods are key to high yielding animals. In ensuring that farmers in Moiben Division get a head-start in owning quality dairy breeds, The PEV Livelihood Recovery Project in partnership with the Ministry of Livestock Development identified Progressive Community farmers to benefit from the Livestock Restocking Programme where 12 in-calf heifers were given to the farmers. The number of the animals has since risen to 23 and is expected to get to 35 in the soon coming calving season.

According to one beneficiary Ms Jackline Anyango, the Livestock Restocking Programme could not have come at a better time. “When the heifer I was given calved, she lifted some burden of caring for my family. I delivered the milk she gave us in the morning to the nearby cooling plant and the evening milk has been enough for our consumption needs and we sell the surplus.” She says that the programme has promoted intergration and peaceful co-existence as farmers in the cosmopolitan area extend the calves to new beneficiaries. She is happy that neighbours often visit her homestead to buy milk and in the process they get to appreciate the diversity of the community within which they live. She also benefited from the construction of low cost temporary housing intervention. 

The Ministry of Livestock Development with funding from the European Union (EU) through Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is set to roll out a weekly, four month training through radio beginning August 2012 on 93.6 Milele FM. The Eldoret East District Livestock Production Officer Mr. Samuel Rotich says that the Radio training is aimed at equipping participating farmers with knowledge and skills on animal feed production and general best practices on animal husbandry and to build their farming capacities. “We will be on hand to monitor this training closely to ensure that farmers actually benefit from the content of the radio training and are able to put to practice what they learn, and ofcourse to assist them where necessary,” he said.

The ability of a project to meet its operating costs and run, not only independently and sustainably, but also to break even and grow, is what determines its success. The Progressive Community has purchased and installed a KShs 185,000 boiler for the provision of hot water for cleaning the cooler, a thing that will ensure hygiene. This is a good indicator that the project is indeed headed in the right direction. The next challenge for Progressive Community now lies in looking ahead towards building human resource capacities with the aim of finding ways to add value and directly market their farm produce.

These recovery projects have not only managed to rebuild transformed livelihoods. They have also laid a firm, solid foundation on which a more cohesive, progressive community which realizes the advantage of pulling together, believes in the virtue of, and in the reward of hard work, will be built.