Views from
the Participants
ICA
Kitui's Patrick Munyao (program manager), Clare Momyani
(facilitator), and Nzilani Mutuku (facilitator) share
their views on KIRDP, as told to ICA Japan.
What
is your overall view of the project?
The
villagers received a great deal of training and were able
to train in areas to progress agriculture and water accountability,
and to maintain the system. This has been a very effective
project.
What
changes did you see take place over the three years?
The
quality of the crops changed and there is much less wasted
land. There used to be little concern about the river
water because of such little rain, but now the borehole
water methods have generated lots of support.
An
example of someone who really changed is a villager named
Alex. He lives with his wife, mother, and two children.
He would walk to town each day to find work, and maybe
make 25-100KS (50-150 yen). Alex was selected for the
KIRDP program during a survey to start growing vegetables.
At first he grew them just for his family. Soon his fields
grew very green and fertile and he had enough extra to
sell. These days he farms fulltime and customers come
to his house to buy vegetables. He makes about 200KS a
day.
We
have also seen women join the self help groups, part of
a microfinance project within KIRDP, and start to purchase
quantities of goods and sell them at a small profit within
their villages. Many of these women now earn more than
their husband who were so skeptical. |
What
do you see as the difference between this project and
other development projects you have seen in the region?
ICA's
project is more sustainable because ICA works with the
local people and the local government becomes involved
in the project. |
